Cricket Highlights, 31 Oct: ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 (Match 30) – Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka: Afghanistan kept their hopes of the semi-final alive by defeating the Lankans.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka (Match 30) – Highlights

Yesterday, Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka to keep their hopes of the semi-finals alive. Afghan forces are fifth in the points table with three wins from six matches. The team has three more matches to reach the top four. And if any of the current top four teams perform poorly, the door will open for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Monday (October 30). Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 241 runs before being all out in the last over. In reply, Afghanistan won by losing 3 wickets in 45.2 overs.

Azmatullah Omarzai remained unbeaten with 73 runs for Afghanistan. He scored this run by hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes playing 63 balls. Besides, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi scored an unbeaten 58 runs.

Afghan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz got out before making any contribution on the core sheet in pursuit of the target. However, another opener, Ibrahim Zadran, remained firm on the wicket. Ibrahim formed a partnership of 58 runs with Rahmat Shah. After that, Ibrahim scored 39 runs and Rahmat got out after scoring 62 runs. Hashmatullah and Azmatullah did the rest of the work.

These two jointly ensured the victory of the team by playing an innings of 111 runs from 104 balls. Dilshan Madushanka took the maximum number of 2 wickets for the Lankans. Apart from this, Kasun Rajitha got 1 wicket.

After a cautious start on this day, Sri Lanka lost their first wicket on 22 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne (15) was LBW by Fazalhaq Farooqi. However, another opener, Pathum Nissanka, and captain Kusal Mendis, who went one down, were leading the team to a good base in the second wicket pair.

Nissanka, who had scored half-centuries in the previous four matches, was on his way to becoming the first cricketer to score his fifth consecutive half-century in the World Cup. But he became a victim of Azmatullah by scoring 46 runs off 60 balls. He hit 5 fours this innings.

Captain Mendis made a partnership of 50 runs with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the third wicket. But after the team total of 134 runs, Mendis was dismissed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The Lankan skipper scored 39 runs off 50 balls with 3 fours. Samarawickrama, the highest run-scorer of the Lankans in the current World Cup, became Mujeeb’s second victim as soon as he added 5 runs. The downfall of the Lankans began there.

Dhananjaya de Silva (14), Charith Asalanka (22), and Dushmantha Chameera (1) all were gone for the team’s 167 runs, 180 runs, and 185 runs respectively. Then there arose a possibility of Sri Lanka being all out below two hundred. However, Maheesh Theekshana added 45 runs with Angelo Mathews in the eighth-wicket partnership. The Lankans reached 230 with that.

Theekshana scored 29 runs off 31 balls with 3 fours and 1 six. After that, the innings of the Lankans did not prevail. Sri Lanka stopped at 241 runs when Mathews (23) went back on 239 runs and Kasun Rajitha (5) got run out on 241 runs.

The most successful bowler for Afghans was Fazalhaq Farooqi who took 4 wickets with 34 runs in 10 overs. He was also adjudged player of the match for his brilliant spell. Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 2 wickets with 38 runs in 10 overs. Rashid Khan, who came down to play his 100th ODI, got the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva conceding 50 runs. Besides, Azmatullah also got a wicket.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Scoreboard

Sri Lanka – 241/10 (49.3)

Afghanistan – 242/3 (45.2)

Result – Afghanistan won by 7 wickets

Player of the match – Fazalhaq Farooqi

Fazalhaq Farooqi

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Playing XIs