Sri Lanka were bowled out for 105 in the final over, then Rahmanullah Gurbaz (40) and Hazratullah Zazai (37 not out) scored 83 in the powerplay to help Afghanistan reach 106-2 in 10.1 overs of their 100th Twenty20.
After being sent to bat in the first over, Sri Lanka could not recover from the twin strikes of Fazlahaq Farooqui. The left-arm pacer dismissed Kusal Mendis and Charit Aslanka in successive deliveries to win 3-11.
Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said, “The morale of the team is high.
Nabi successfully went for a televised referral against Mendis when on-field umpire Ahsan Raza ruled in favor of the batsman after he was hit on the pads. Aslanka made another vicious Farooqui delivery after the next delivery.
Sri Lanka’s dressing room was taken by surprise when pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, despite showing no lead in the replays, took a suspicious catch against Pathum Nishanka as Afghanistan reduced to 5-3 in the first two overs.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who top-scored with 38, added 44 runs with Danushka Gunathilaka (17) before Afghanistan struck through their spinners Nabi, 2-14, and Mujeeb ur Rahman, 2-24.
Gunathilaka did not take a dropped catch when the ball hit the hands of Karim Janat in the covers and the same fielder was dismissed in the deep in the eighth over.
Captain Dasun Shanaka dismissed Nabi on the first ball, while Rajapaksa and Mahesh Tekashana were run out in clumsy fashion, leaving Sri Lanka at 75-9 in the 15th over.
“Look, these things can happen in T20 cricket but we have to come out of this situation, win the next match and qualify for the next stage,” Shanaka said.
Karunaratne struck till the last five overs and Farooqui clean bowled Karunaratne for 31 runs. Only three Sri Lankans reached double digits.
Afghanistan’s Gurbaz and Zazai both batted aggressively against debutant pacers Dilshan Madushanka and Mathisha Pathirana, while Karunaratne was dismissed for 20 in his lone over.
Gurbaz was stumped by veteran spinner Wanindu Hasaranga soon after the batting powerplay, but not before the batsman hit four sixes and three fours in his strong knock of just 18 balls.
“We batted like this to ensure that we have a good net run rate,” Zazai said. “Gurbaaz and I had an understanding. When he was hitting it well, I was taking a back seat. We aim to go to the finals.”
Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh while Group A consists of Pakistan, India and Hong Kong. The top two teams in each group advance to the Super 4 stage.
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