Sri Lanka edge out Afghanistan in low-scoring thriller

Sri Lanka survived a woeful batting collapse to beat Afghanistan by 34 runs in a rain-shortened World Cup thriller on Tuesday.

The 1996 World Cup champions limped to 201 all out in the 37th over as Afghanistan grabbed nine wickets for 57 runs to give themselves a chance of pulling off a shock win.

Afghanistan needed a rain-revised target of just 187 from 41 overs but they failed to gain any momentum in their run chase and completely lost their way after opener Mohammad Shahzad's dismissal in the fifth over led them to losing five wickets for just 23 runs.

After Afghanistan were reduced to 57-5, a partnership of 64 by Najibullah Zadran and captain Gulbadin Naib gave them hope.

But fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep grabbed two quick wickets before Najibullah was run out by Dimuth Karunaratne for 43.

That set up a tense finale as the last two batsmen needed to score another 42 runs to hand Afghanistan their first World Cup win against a test-playing nation.

But Sri Lanka made sure that victory did not come at their expense as Lasith Malinga bowled Hamid Hassan with a yorker four balls later.

Pradeep was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers as he claimed a career best four wickets for 31 runs as Afghanistan were bowled out for 152 in the 33rd over.

"One hundred and eighty seven is not easy to defend, we know their openers go hard, but once we got them they were on the backfoot and we kept getting wickets," Sri Lanka captain Karunaratne said.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's batsmen had also lost their way as they fell from 144-1 to 201 all out.

Mohammad Nabi sparked the collapse when he grabbed three wickets in the space of five deliveries by producing a brilliant spell of spin bowling in the 22nd over. He finished with four wickets for 30 runs.

Sri Lanka slid steadily to 182-8 before play was paused due to rain.

Some big hits by the tailenders carried Sri Lanka over the 200 run mark after play resumed. Wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera top-scored with 78 runs off 81 balls which included eight boundaries.

But he ran out of partners at the other end and holed out in desperation.

"The wicket was not easy for the batsmen and so we'd asked the bowlers to hit the deck hard and they came back well during the middle overs," said Afghanistan skipper Naib.

The win over Afghanistan handed Sri Lanka their first win of the tournament after they were beaten by South Africa in their opener. Afghanistan are rooted to the bottom of the 10-team standings having lost both of their matches. 

 

Updates: Sri Lanka win by 34 runs (D/L Method) against Afghanistan.

As darkness descended over Sophia Gardens, there was light in the Sri Lankan camp as they scripted a remarkable comeback with the ball and won their first ever match in seven attempts at their bogey venue, Cardiff.

It hadn't started well as the Afghanistan openers got stuck in early but Nuwan Pradeep, inexplicably left out last match, produced a career best performance that included the scalps of the dangerous looking Zazai and Naib, when the Afghanistan captain and Najibullah Zadran were threatening to take the game away.

And when it mattered, it was over to Lasith Malinga, who rolled back the years with some vintage yorkers towards the end. It wasn't the perfect fielding performance either but when it mattered, Dimuth Karunaratne hit the stumps directly to send Najibullah Zadran back and virtually seal the match then and there.

Afghanistan went off to start their innings steadily with the two openers Mohammad Shehzad and Hazratullah Zazai out on the pitch having scored 7 and 30 runs respectively. However, once the Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga sent back Shehzad back to the pavilion, the Afghans have struggled to put up a decent partnership.

 Afg 73/5 in 16 overs.

 Najibullah Zadran 16 (12b)

Gulbadin Naib 0 (3b)

Thisara Perera 2-0-11-1

Nuwan Pradeep 4-1-11-2

The Lankan lions have been bowled out for only 201 runs in 36.5 overs in a 41-over-a-side game. The target has been revised to 187 runs for Afghanistan due to the rain. Nuwan Pradeep was the last to go as the leg spinner Rashid Khan bowled on middle and off, to completely square him [Pradeep] up and clip off the stumps.

Sri Lanka collapsed to 182-8 as Afghanistan grabbed seven wickets in 11 overs to give themselves a chance of a big World Cup upset before rain halted play on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka made a promising start but fell apart in the middle order due to the wily spin of Mohammed Nabi and the seam bowling of Mohammad Shahzad.

After some good work by their openers, Sri Lanka made it to 144-1 before Nabi turned the match on its head with a brilliant spell of spin bowling in the 22nd over by grabbing three wickets in the space of five deliveries.

Sri Lanka slid steadily to 182-8 before play was paused due to rain.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera top-scored with 78 runs off 81 balls which included eight boundaries. But he ran out of partners at the other end and eventually holed out in desperation.

Both the teams have lost their opening games at the World Cup and a loss for Sri Lanka against minnows Afghanistan would put the 1996 world champions in danger of being knocked out of the tournament. (Reuters)

Umpires walked out to the middle for the promised inspection as the covers go off the field. The game has been reduced to a 41-over a side game. The sides will be out to the field after half an hour.

Sri Lanka slump to 182 for the loss of eight wickets after 33 overs as rain started to pour at Cardiff an hour ago.

An hour ago, Afghanistan wouldn't have minded a rain break but now Sri Lanka are the ones probably over the moon to have a chance to get up off the mat for a standing eight-count.

Lasith Malinga 0 (4b)

Suranga Lakmal 2 (4b)

 

Rashid Khan 6-1-14-1

Dawlat Zadran 4-0-19-1

Kusal Perera and captain Dimuth Karunaratne gave the Lankans a flying start after Afghanistan sent them in to bat first at Cardiff. After 10 overs, Sri Lanka were 79 for no loss before it all started to fall apart since the 22nd over.

Mohammad Nabi broke the opening stand of 92 between the Lankan openers, sending back Karnaratne after a 45-ball 30. Perera remained strong at one end and after another fifty partnership with Lahiru Thirimane, Nabi was at hand to destroy the Lankan middle-order. Five wickets fell in the space of 5 overs. Only 15 runs scored in that period as Sri Lanka went from 144 for 1 to 159 for 6.

Nabi has bagged four wickets for 30 runs in nine overs. Sri Lanka lost two more wickets after that. Zadran removed Isuru Udana. Perera had remained unbeaten on 78 when Rashid Khan finally got his scalp in the 33rd over before rain interrupted proceedings. 

SL 182/8 (33 Overs, RR: 5.51)

 

Toss

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field first against Sri Lanka in the seventh match of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Cardiff, Wales. Afghanistan stuck with the same eleven that lost against Australia while Sri Lanka made one change from their defeat against New Zealand, with Nuwan Pradip replacing Jeevan Mendis.

Teams:

Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga. 

Afghanistan XI: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib (c), Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan