Afghanistan remained without a win in the Sri Lankan soil in the ongoing tour after losing the first T20I match in Dambulla on Saturday, 17 February. Afghanistan failed to chase down 14 runs off the final 12 deliveries against Sri Lanka, in what turned out to be a thriller encounter.
Young Matheesha Pathirana turned out to be Sri Lanka’s hero, bowling 2 overs at the death and picking up 3 wickets (out of overall four), helping the hosts start the final leg of the series in a positive note. Chasing 161 runs from 20 overs, Afghanistan built two strong partnerships for the second and the sixth wicket and were completely in track of the target, however, some exceptional bowling from the young slinger put their plans in trouble. At the end of the day, Afghanistan were only able to score 156 runs for the loss of 9 wickets and lost the match by 5 runs.
SL vs AFG, 1st T20I: Highlights
Pathirana bowled four overs and gave away just 24 runs for his four wickets and earned the Player of the Match award on the day.
“Always wanted to win this match. This is my 2nd T20 for my country, I don’t know how to say my happiness. Now it’s not a new thing for me, I did this a lot of times when I played in the IPL. I still have to improve,” Pathirana said after the nervy game.
Captain and opener Ibrahim Zadran stood at one end of the crease as the others fell despite getting starts. Zadran scored 67 off 55 balls, but was not able to take the team home. Needing 11 runs to win from the last over, Zadran batted all 6 balls against Binura Fernando but was not able to hit the pacer out of the park. Four dot balls at the start of the over essentially killed the game, and the consolation boundary at the end of the innings could not take Afghanistan through.
Earlier in the innings, Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga hit a 24-ball 50 to help Sri Lanka attain a respectable total. Sri Lanka were hit by early wickets and if not for Hasaranga’s 67 off just 32 balls, would not have been able to win the game. Hasarnga did well with the ball as well in the second innings. He gave away just 20 runs and picked one wicket.
“We were short 15-20 runs but our bowlers did a really good job. When the spinners come on, I try to do my basic things. We playing with 7 top batters and 1 allrounder and the batters need to take responsibility. Ask the crowd to support us in the next two games as well,” captain Wanindu Hasaranga said.
