Sri Lanka started off its Super-4 campaign on a winning note by registering a thrilling victory against Afghanistan tonight. It also took revenge on the Afghans for the defeat in the group stage game. In the match held tonight, Lankans defeated Afghans by 4 wickets.
While batting first, Afghanistan got a sensational from its top three batters. Especially, Gurbaz (84) and Ibrahim Zadran (40) made a partnership of 93 runs for the second wicket and assured a high score for their team. However, Sri Lanka came back hard in the backend of the innings and restricted Afghanistan in scoring 180+ runs. By the end of 20 overs, Afghanistan scored 175/6.
Sri Lanka started off the chase very well as its openers Pathum Nissanka (35) and Kusal Mendis (36) made a partnership of 62 runs for the first wicket in just 6.3 overs. After such a sensational powerplay, Sri Lanka lost its steam in the middle overs by losing wickets regularly. But handy knocks from Danushka Gunathilaka (33) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31) in the middle order helped Sri Lanka in scoring 179/6 in 19.1 overs.
Sri Lanka will next take on India on September 6. On the flip side, Afghanistan will play against Pakistan on September 7.
