Sri Lanka has been struggling in white ball cricket as the promising new talent did not really shine on big stage. They are grooming them and hoping for long term results. Now, Sri Lankan youngsters came good against a spirited Afghanistan team in first T20I at Dambulla. CSK talent Matheesha Pathirana really turned the match in the final overs and became Player of the Match.
Afghanistan have won the toss and elected to field first. Captain Wanindu Hasaranga played a good innings of 67 runs from 32 balls for Sri Lanka to post a respectable 160 runs on the board in 19 overs. Sadeera Samarawickrama(25) and Dhananjaya de Silva(24) perished in the pursuit of runs after good starts.
Fazalhaq Farooqi(3/25), Naveen-ul-Haq(2/25), Azmatullah Omarzai(2/30), Noor Ahmad(1/18) and Karim Janat(1/23) successfully restricted Sri Lanka for an achievable score. In the chase, Captain Ibrahim Zadran stayed not out throughout the innings but scored only 67 runs from 55 balls. He failed to connect big shots in the final overs.
Among others, only Karim Janat scored 20 runs. Every batter struggled against tight Sri Lankan bowling. Matheesha Pathirana(4/24) stood out and pulled back the match for Sri Lanka to win by 4 runs as Afghanistan scored 156/9 in their 20 overs. Wanindu Hasaranga also bowled economically. The T20I series is going to be fought more closely than one imagined.
Dangal fame Suhani Bhatnagar tragically passes away at young age!