World Cup 2023: Giant-slayers Afghanistan demolishes Sri Lanka by 7 wickets

Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Azmatullah Omarzai slammed well-timed half-centuries to complement the superb bowling effort of pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi as Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their World Cup match here on Monday at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Pune: Afghanistan’s giant-killing spree continues as after beating two past world champions Pakistan and England, they now inflicted a seven-wicket defeat over another former champion Sri Lanka in a league stage fixture at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Monday.

Afghanistan bowlers justified their skipper Shahidi’s call to field on winning the toss, as they bundled out Sri Lanka for a below-par 241 on a batting-friendly track with three balls to spare.

The chase was a cakewalk for Afghanistan as they romped home with seven wickets intact in rather a lop-sided contest. Azmatullah Omarzai remained unbeaten on 73 off 63 balls while Rahmat Shah and skipper Shahidi contributed 62 and 58, respectively to ensure their historic triumph on Monday.

This was Afghanistan's third win in the league stage having earlier beaten Pakistan and England at Chennai and New Zealand respectively. Courtesy of the win, Afghanistan are at the spot and they have spoiled Sri Lanka's party to make the last four as the role for the Islanders will get rougher from here on.

Earlier an average batting display from the 1996 World Cup champions Sri Lanka once again came to the fore after they managed a humble 241 all out with three balls to spare.

Put into bat, the Sri Lankans never looked in full control of the situation and lost wickets at regular intervals on a sporting track. The first to depart was opener Dimuth Karunaratne for his individual score of 15 in the sixth over. His partner Pathum Nissanka (46 off 60 balls) and number 3 batter and captain Kusal Mendis added 62 runs for the second wicket before Azmatullah showed the door to Nissanka four runs short of his fifty.

Mendis was dismissed for 39 at the team total of 134. Since then, wickets started tumbling at a much faster rate and runs began coming at a snail's pace. The situation made the Lankans shaky. In between, Sadeera Samarawickrama scored a 40-ball 36 to steady the ship a bit.

Replacement all-rounder and a veteran of 107 Test matches and 223 ODIs, Angelo Mathews tried to turn things for the Lankans but only managed 23 off 26 deliveries laced with a four and six. Maheesh Theekshana, coming at number 9, added some runs (29 off 31) to give respectability to the score. Theekshana hit three boundaries and one six.

Among the Afghan bowlers, Fazalhaq Farooqi was the pick with 4 wickets conceding 34 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman claimed two wickets while Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan bagged one apiece.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 241 all out in 49.3 overs (Pathum Nissanka 46, Kusal Mendis 39; Fazalhaq Farooqi 4/34) lost to Afghanistan (Azmatullah Omarzai 73*, Rahmat Shah 62, Shahidi 58) by 7 wickets