Sri Lanka registered a 132-run win over Afghanistan in the 2nd ODI to level the 3-match series (1-1) today (04th June) at Hambantota International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first while making 4 changes to their lineup. The hosts brought in Sadeera Samarawickrama, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera replacing Angelo Mathews, Dushan Hemantha, Lahiru Kumara and Matheesha Pathirana.
>>Clinical Afghanistan down Sri Lanka with all-round display<<
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha
Karunaratne and Nissanka managed to provide a solid start to the innings this time, building an 82-run stand for the opening wicket before the latter was trapped in front of the bowling off Nabi for 43 runs.
Karunaratne who failed to make an impression in the series opener, came back strongly to smash a fine half-century to repay the selectors’ faith kept on him.
Sri Lanka continued to pile on the runs as Mendis and Samarawickrama then built another vital 88-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Samarawickrama who returned to the Sri Lanka ODI side after three and a half years, impressed with an excellent knock of 44 runs off 46 balls.
Mendis went on to score his 21st ODI half-century which strengthened Sri Lanka’s grip on the game. At the final stage of the innings, De Silva (29*), Shanaka (23) and Hasaranga (29*) played little cameos to take Sri Lanka to a formidable total – 323/6.
The speedster Chameera who returned to the ODI side after an injury layoff, provided an early breakthrough with the ball for Sri Lanka, dismissing the dangerous Afghan opening batter Gurbaz for just 2 runs.
>>REPLAY – Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka 2023 | 1st ODI<<
Zadran and Shah who set a record-breaking century stand in the last game, once again looked good for another big partnership, but Shanaka removed the latter for 36 runs to restrict their stand for 51.
The in-form batter Zadran and skipper Shahidi showed some resistance, scoring half-centuries but they never threatened to take the game away from the hosts.
De Silva did the damage in the middle overs by picking up three wickets while Hasaranga came back to finish off the tail, claiming a 3-fer as Sri Lanka snatched their biggest win over Afghanistan in ODIs.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | lbw b Mohammad Nabi | 43 | 56 | 6 | 0 | 76.79 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | lbw b Noor Ahmad | 52 | 62 | 7 | 0 | 83.87 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Fareed Ahmad | 78 | 75 | 7 | 1 | 104.00 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | b Mujeeb ur Rahman | 44 | 46 | 5 | 0 | 95.65 |
| Charith Asalanka | lbw b Mohammad Nabi | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 29 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 120.83 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Fareed Ahmad | 23 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 176.92 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | not out | 29 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 241.67 |
| Extras | 19 (b 6 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 10, pen 0) |
| Total | 323/6 (50 Overs, RR: 6.46) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-82 (15.5) Pathum Nissanka, 2-110 (22.3) Dimuth Karunaratne, 3-198 (36.5) Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4-213 (39.5) Charith Asalanka, 5-254 (43.4) Kusal Mendis, 6-288 (47.1) Dasun Shanaka, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fazal Haq Farooqi | 7 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 6.29 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 5 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 9.60 | |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | 10 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 3.90 | |
| Fareed Ahmad | 9 | 0 | 61 | 2 | 6.78 | |
| Mohammad Nabi | 10 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 5.20 | |
| Noor Ahmad | 9 | 0 | 70 | 1 | 7.78 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | c Kusal Mendis b Dushmantha Chameera | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Ibrahim Zadran | c Kusal Mendis b Dhananjaya de Silva | 54 | 75 | 2 | 2 | 72.00 |
| Rahmat Shah | lbw b Dasun Shanaka | 36 | 42 | 3 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Hashmatullah Shahidi | lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva | 57 | 62 | 6 | 0 | 91.94 |
| Najibullah Zadran | c Pathum Nissanka b Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Mohammad Nabi | c Kusal Mendis b Dushmantha Chameera | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | c Dasun Shanaka b Mahesh Theekshana | 28 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 90.32 |
| Noor Ahmad | b Wanindu Hasaranga | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Mujeeb ur Rahman | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Fareed Ahmad | b Wanindu Hasaranga | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Fazal Haq Farooqi | not out | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 7 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 191/10 (42.1 Overs, RR: 4.53) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-11 (3.2) Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2-62 (15.4) Rahmat Shah, 3-146 (30.3) Ibrahim Zadran, 4-157 (32.5) Najibullah Zadran, 5-160 (33.5) Mohammad Nabi, 6-160 (34.1) Hashmatullah Shahidi, 7-169 (37.1) Noor Ahmad, 8-169 (37.3) Mujeeb ur Rahman, 9-191 (41.2) Fareed Ahmad, 10-191 (42.1) Azmatullah Omarzai, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 5.20 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 7 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 2.57 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 7.1 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 4.93 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 9 | 2 | 42 | 3 | 4.67 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 10 | 0 | 39 | 3 | 3.90 | |
 today (04th June) at Hambantota International Cricket Stadium. ){kind=link}