Sri Lanka 160 (Hasaranga 67, Farooqui 3-25) win Afghanistan 156 for 9 (Zadran 67*, Pathirana 4-24) by four runs
In front of a sold out crowd in Dambulla, Sri Lanka cruised to a rollercoaster first T20I win against Afghanistan, winning by four runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
For much of Afghanistan’s chase, the game looked out of hand, particularly with Ibrahim at the crease, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers led by Pathirana did well to hold the wickets at crucial junctures and stuck at the death.
Action-packed Powerplay
All the talk in the ODIs was the nature of the wickets, with the friendly tracks delivered in Pallekele widely praised. The question then was, would Dambulla – hosting its first men’s international championship in five years – follow? Well, while Afghanistan chose to bowl, opting to first see how the wicket plays out before taking a crack, Sri Lanka were tasked with measuring it on the fly.
The question was soon answered as Sri Lanka went down on a roll, smashing a healthy 51 runs in the powerplay. The only hitch was that they conceded three wickets in the process as Afghanistan had deftly preyed on Sri Lanka’s newfound aggression. Pathum Nissanka hit wide leg, Kusal Mendis took the lead in an attempt to go down to third man and Dhananjaya de Silva pulled one straight to deep square leg.
Three became four shortly after when Asalanka tried to pull a long leg but only managed to get an edge to the keeper. In the middle of the eighth over Sri Lanka were suddenly 55 for 4.
Wow-nindu’s Floating Bench
With Sri Lanka in very real danger of throwing away a promising start, skipper Hasaranga took it upon himself to promote himself up the order ahead of Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka.
Hasaranga’s role as a swing pinch hitter was first explored in last year’s LPL with disastrous results, but the question now was could he translate it to the international stage? An injury before last year’s World Cup meant the answer to that had to wait a little longer, but here he was finally able to show off his chops.
In a blitzkrieg knock, Hasaranga plundered 67 off just 32 deliveries. His partnership with Sadeera Samarawickrama of 72 came from 40 balls, with the latter accounting for just 18 of them. By the time Hasaranga was dismissed in the 16th over, he had taken Sri Lanka to 146 for 6.
Afghanistan fight back and start fast
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-Ul-Haq and Karim Janat, each with their variations of pace and length proved too good for Lanka’s lower order and tail to escape.
Despite both Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka being on hand to open the death over, Afghanistan ensured that Sri Lanka did not even complete their 20 overs in the end. The last four wickets added just 14 runs – Mathews and Shanaka accounted for 12 of them – as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 160.
Then with the bat they started with a bang. The trick often to completing middle chases is to use the powerplay, and in that regard Afghanistan followed the script to a tee. Apart from the first over, the remaining five in the powerplay saw at least one boundary scored.
With Ibrahim taking the lead, they eventually leveled 57 runs in the opening six overs for the loss of just one wicket.
Sri Lanka chip away
Hasaranga had spoken before the match about Sri Lanka’s impressive bowling reserves and here he used them to the fullest. Having initially slotted himself into the powerplay – an uncharacteristic move but justified by Afghanistan’s quick start – he struck in his second over, sneaking through the leg-hack of Gulbadin Naib.
Pathirana’s introduction in the next over saw another fall, before Dasun Shanaka and his clever variations of pace grabbed two in the space of three balls two overs later. Just like that Afghanistan were 86 for 5
The Patheranas come through the clutch
But in keeping with the theme of the game, the drama wasn’t over yet. Ibrahim and Karim Janat’s stand of 39 off 28 took the game to the crease and with 36 needed off 24 with five wickets in hand, the game was likely Afghanistan’s to lose.
But Patherana had other ideas. Janat had no answer to a tight ball that stayed lower than expected due to Pathirana’s slow action and trapped him in front. However, the 21-year-old saved the best for last, producing two super-quick fulls two overs later to get rid of Noor Ahmad and Naveen-Ul-Haq as Afghanistan were reduced to 150 for 9 going into the final over.
There, Binura redeemed himself with a series of well-directed overs that Ibrahim couldn’t get away from as Sri Lanka secured a nervy win.