Sri Lanka Vs Afghanistan Match Summary:
The contest between Srilanka and Afghanistan did not look like the one we saw previously and probably that is the magic of Super 4. Srilanka fought hard and fought well to win the first match of the top 4, beating Afghanistan by 4 wickets. Here in this article, we talk about Sri Lanka Vs Afghanistan Match Summary in detail.
Sri Lanka were chasing a biggish total of 176 against the team that completely outperformed them through their bowling in the previous encounter. But this time, the results were different. A complete team effort from Sri Lanka won them the match they very well deserved.
Earlier, after having a banging start to the innings, Afghanistan could not capitalize on the start and was restricted to 175. At one point, it looked like the team was going to score at least 190+ given they were hitting the ball hard. But to their disappointment, they could only score 38 runs in the last 5 overs which shifted the momentum towards Srilanka. It must have helped them when they came in to bat.
It looked like things were clear in Sri Lankans’ head. They were going for the win from the first over. Apart from a couple of overs in the middle, it looked like a different team, a good team that would not get shaken up by a few blows. From Pathum Nissanka (33 off 28), Mendis (36 off 19), Danushka Gunathilaka (33 off 20), and Bhanuka Rajapaksha (31 off 14), the batters and their scores speak for themselves as how perfectly the team summed their innings. It is what is required in T20 cricket and they pulled it off with passion.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, will wonder what may have been different after having more than their fair share of chances to end the game. Their batters couldn’t capitalize in the death overs, and their fielding was a mixed mixture of outstanding fielding and several drops. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would not mind, and this will boost their confidence ahead of their game against India on Monday.
Winning Captain Dasun Shanaka said in the post-match presentation, “It’s the belief of the dressing room, we believe we can chase anything in these kinds of wickets. We can always analyze the wicket better when chasing. There was a plan coming into this game, we know they have good batters, but the boys executed the plans really well. As I mentioned in the toss, partnerships were the key to winning the game. We had spoken about that, and now we know how to approach matches and win games.”
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
