As I mentioned in my preview, Afghanistan will have to do extremely well in all the three departments to challenge Sri Lanka, and even when they do that there will be a thrilling match on the cards but Afghanistan may still not win. Today, Afghanistan did very well compared to their previous games in these areas but still were not up to the mark. In spite of that, we witnessed a thriller. Had they been at their best, the result is for anybody to guess.
Result (Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets with 10 balls remaining) in these kind of matches hardly tell the true story. It was much closer than the numbers indicate. For most part of the match it was Afghanistan who dominated the progress. Even in Sri Lanka's innings, Afghanistan was in complete command till till the sixth wicket fell and Thissara Perera came to the crease.
It was Afghanistan's lack of experience and their usual suspects that let them down. They have struggled to maintain the intensity of their performance throughout the innings, be it their batting or be it their fielding/bowling. It was no different today.
After first two wickets fell for 40 runs in 9.4 overs, Ashgar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari added 88 runs for the third wicket in 17.3 overs. Ashgar himself had scored 54 runs off 57 balls, when he unnecessary holed out in attempt to ante the scoring. Afghanistan were coasting (128/3) at that point of time with 23 more overs to go. Need of the hour was to keep wickets and go for the onslaught in the last 10 overs. In the next 5.4 overs Nabi and Samiullah added 29 runs, when Samiullah unnecessarily attempting to break free, gave a simple catch to mid-off. Another irresponsible shot at a time when powerplay was just round the corner. Afghanistan were 157/4. Now it was the turn of captain Nabi. Batting powerplay had just begun. Lasith Malinga was the bowler. Nabi had played 3 dot balls in a row, it is perfectly understandable that one would get a bit nervous. But in his nervousness, Nabi seemed to forget that he was facing Malinga and it is usual that powerplay or no powerplay, any batsman in the world would consider a dot ball as a good result as long as they do not give their wicket to him. But Nabi went the adventurous way, he attempted a heave and missed the line completely to get knocked down. Afghanistan 169/5 in 35.4 overs.
The result of this adventure was that Afghanistan could score only 10 runs in the batting powerplay. This was the lowest score by any team in this tournament. Interestingly 5 of these 10 runs were from extras. Malinga and Lakmal who bowled in this phase and tightened the noose, which finally proved handly for Sri Lanka in their chase.
But with a cameo from Mirwais Ashraf in the end, Afghanistan added 53 runs in the last 10 overs to set Sri Lanka a target of 233, at least 20-25 runs short of what it could have been. Afghans should learn to put price on their wickets. They should understand the importance of staying at the wicket till the end. Once again their lack of experience and impatience at the crease resulted in a score that was below par.
After first two wickets fell for 40 runs in 9.4 overs, Ashgar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari added 88 runs for the third wicket in 17.3 overs. Ashgar himself had scored 54 runs off 57 balls, when he unnecessary holed out in attempt to ante the scoring. Afghanistan were coasting (128/3) at that point of time with 23 more overs to go. Need of the hour was to keep wickets and go for the onslaught in the last 10 overs. In the next 5.4 overs Nabi and Samiullah added 29 runs, when Samiullah unnecessarily attempting to break free, gave a simple catch to mid-off. Another irresponsible shot at a time when powerplay was just round the corner. Afghanistan were 157/4. Now it was the turn of captain Nabi. Batting powerplay had just begun. Lasith Malinga was the bowler. Nabi had played 3 dot balls in a row, it is perfectly understandable that one would get a bit nervous. But in his nervousness, Nabi seemed to forget that he was facing Malinga and it is usual that powerplay or no powerplay, any batsman in the world would consider a dot ball as a good result as long as they do not give their wicket to him. But Nabi went the adventurous way, he attempted a heave and missed the line completely to get knocked down. Afghanistan 169/5 in 35.4 overs.
The result of this adventure was that Afghanistan could score only 10 runs in the batting powerplay. This was the lowest score by any team in this tournament. Interestingly 5 of these 10 runs were from extras. Malinga and Lakmal who bowled in this phase and tightened the noose, which finally proved handly for Sri Lanka in their chase.
But with a cameo from Mirwais Ashraf in the end, Afghanistan added 53 runs in the last 10 overs to set Sri Lanka a target of 233, at least 20-25 runs short of what it could have been. Afghans should learn to put price on their wickets. They should understand the importance of staying at the wicket till the end. Once again their lack of experience and impatience at the crease resulted in a score that was below par.
When the Sri Lankan innings started, with the likes of Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardene in the line-up, they would have thought that it would be a cake walk. But that was not to be.
If something that attracts attention about this Afghan team immediately in their performance on the ground, it is their pace attack. Today once again they made many to take notice of that.
Dawlat Zadran who was playing this match in place of Aftab Alam started the first over and in the very first ball got Lahiru Thirimanne trapped in front of the wicket with ball hitting the back pad. Umpire had no hesitation in giving him out. Sri Lanka were 0/1. In the second ball of the second over, Dilshan facing his first ball, delivered by Shapoor Zadran, ended up tickling an edge to the keeper, the ball was delivered at a good pace and bounced a little more than what Dilshan would have expected. Sri Lanka were reeling at 2/2. This was just the second time in all ODIs, that both openers have been dismissed for first-ball ducks. The only previous such instance was in Guyana in 2006, when Zimbabwe lost both Piet Rinke and Terry Duffin for zeroes off their first ball. Also, this was the third time that Sri Lankan openers were dismissed for a score of zero. Afghanistan had a dream start. Though it was very early in the game, but getting the batsmen of such quality out in the way these two bowlers did was very commendable.
This made Sri Lanka to reorganize themselves and they had to promote Dimuth Karunaratne at No. 4, who opens for them in Tests, instead of the seasoned Mahela Jayawardene. May be they wanted to protect him. Sri Lanka were pushed on their back foot. It was evident in their running between the wickets. Lot of panic had crept in. In the very fourth over, Sangakkara was given a life when the Afghanistan missed a easy run out chance in spite of attempting twice.
Now Hamid Hassan was brought to replace Shapoor in the sixth over. In the very third ball of his over, Hamid's ball swung in sharply from wide outside the off-stump breaking through Sangakkara's defence crashed into the stumps. Sri Lanka were in real trouble at 18/3 in just 5.3 overs.
Karunaratne and Jayawardene stitched a partnership which was steadily progressing. They saw through the initial powerplay and scored odd boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking. After conceding two fours in the 12th over, Hamid Hassan on his last ball of the over got Karunaratne to play a length ball outside the off stump, which took the outside edge to provide a simple catch to the slip. Sri Lanka four down at 51.
Captain Angelo Mathews came to join hands with Jayawardene to form what would be the decisive partnership of the match. Both the batsmen batted with tremendous maturity understanding the need of the hour which was to keep wickets. They were cruising without any threat from the Afghans. Sri Lanka had scored 94/4 at the end of 25 overs. In the 26th over Jayawardene reach his yet another world cup 50, in the 27th over, the partnership reached 50. For Afghanistan on the other hand, the need of the hour was a wicket but they were just not getting that. The asking rate was still below 6, with both Mathews and Jayawardene at the crease, the game was slowly drifting away from Afghans. A wicket could still have changed the complexion. The pair reached the 35 overs mark with the score at 147. Throughout their innings, when compared with the Afghanistan, they always lagged behind. It was exceptional that an inexperienced attack as that of Afghanistan had kept them on the back foot for such a long period. Soon the two completed their 100 runs stand in 36th over.
The two added another 28 runs in the batting powerplay. Just when it seemed that Afghanistan were losing grip on the game, a brilliant fielding display brought an end to the partnership running Mathews out, who was attempting a quick non-existent single. From 51/4, the two had brought Sri Lanka to 177/5. From here it was anybody's game now. Jayawardene completed his 19th ODI century in the same over (41st). In the very next over, Hamid Hassan who was summoned back by his skipper got Jayawardene to flick the ball to third man aerially straight to Nawroz Mangal. With this wicket, the game that seemed to drift too much in favour of Sri Lanka was now turned upside down. Afghanistan looked very much in control to cause an upset. Sri Lanka were 178/6 and they needed now 55 runs off 52 balls with just 4 wickets in hand.
In came Thissara Perera, who had been drafted in the team to replace Nuwan Kulasekara. The very first ball he faced, he banged it to 4, as if to tell that the contest was not over. Now it was very obvious that the game would go down to the wire. Afghanistan's inexperience showed up clearly, the same bowlers who bowled beautifully upfront, failed to bowl in the right areas. Thissara Perera showed what he knows best and scored freely scoring at least one boundary an over. Now it was no contest, only wickets could have got Afghanistan back and Afghanistan bowler's failed to get them. The team that looked in complete control till Perera arrived, looked clueless and finally Perera took Sri Lanka home with 10 balls to spare. His personal score was 47* off 26 balls.
Afghanistan must be heart broken but at the same time they should be proud of the fact that they were in the contest till the last minute. Mathews had said in the press conference on the eve of the match that they would treat Afghanistan as a Test team, and Afghanistan's performance complemented that statement. In spite of decent starts, there was no Jayawardene in their line up who could hold the fort in the batting. Had they scored an additional 30 runs, they could have easily found themselves on the other side of line.
Sri Lanka on the other hand must be relieved to survive a scare. It was far from convincing display from both the ball and the bat against a team that has just stepped into the mainstream. To add to that, they conceded 16 runs as extras (Afghanistan only 6), joint highest in the tournament so far. Two matches - one humiliating loss, other not so convincing victory, negative NRR, Sri Lanka will have to raise their standard to compete against the top teams in the group.
Captain Angelo Mathews came to join hands with Jayawardene to form what would be the decisive partnership of the match. Both the batsmen batted with tremendous maturity understanding the need of the hour which was to keep wickets. They were cruising without any threat from the Afghans. Sri Lanka had scored 94/4 at the end of 25 overs. In the 26th over Jayawardene reach his yet another world cup 50, in the 27th over, the partnership reached 50. For Afghanistan on the other hand, the need of the hour was a wicket but they were just not getting that. The asking rate was still below 6, with both Mathews and Jayawardene at the crease, the game was slowly drifting away from Afghans. A wicket could still have changed the complexion. The pair reached the 35 overs mark with the score at 147. Throughout their innings, when compared with the Afghanistan, they always lagged behind. It was exceptional that an inexperienced attack as that of Afghanistan had kept them on the back foot for such a long period. Soon the two completed their 100 runs stand in 36th over.
The two added another 28 runs in the batting powerplay. Just when it seemed that Afghanistan were losing grip on the game, a brilliant fielding display brought an end to the partnership running Mathews out, who was attempting a quick non-existent single. From 51/4, the two had brought Sri Lanka to 177/5. From here it was anybody's game now. Jayawardene completed his 19th ODI century in the same over (41st). In the very next over, Hamid Hassan who was summoned back by his skipper got Jayawardene to flick the ball to third man aerially straight to Nawroz Mangal. With this wicket, the game that seemed to drift too much in favour of Sri Lanka was now turned upside down. Afghanistan looked very much in control to cause an upset. Sri Lanka were 178/6 and they needed now 55 runs off 52 balls with just 4 wickets in hand.
In came Thissara Perera, who had been drafted in the team to replace Nuwan Kulasekara. The very first ball he faced, he banged it to 4, as if to tell that the contest was not over. Now it was very obvious that the game would go down to the wire. Afghanistan's inexperience showed up clearly, the same bowlers who bowled beautifully upfront, failed to bowl in the right areas. Thissara Perera showed what he knows best and scored freely scoring at least one boundary an over. Now it was no contest, only wickets could have got Afghanistan back and Afghanistan bowler's failed to get them. The team that looked in complete control till Perera arrived, looked clueless and finally Perera took Sri Lanka home with 10 balls to spare. His personal score was 47* off 26 balls.
Afghanistan must be heart broken but at the same time they should be proud of the fact that they were in the contest till the last minute. Mathews had said in the press conference on the eve of the match that they would treat Afghanistan as a Test team, and Afghanistan's performance complemented that statement. In spite of decent starts, there was no Jayawardene in their line up who could hold the fort in the batting. Had they scored an additional 30 runs, they could have easily found themselves on the other side of line.
Sri Lanka on the other hand must be relieved to survive a scare. It was far from convincing display from both the ball and the bat against a team that has just stepped into the mainstream. To add to that, they conceded 16 runs as extras (Afghanistan only 6), joint highest in the tournament so far. Two matches - one humiliating loss, other not so convincing victory, negative NRR, Sri Lanka will have to raise their standard to compete against the top teams in the group.
A couple of lighter moments are worth mentioning in this highly intense match. Both came during Sri Lanka's batting.
After castling Sangakkara, Hamid Hassan attempted a cart wheeling that looked very awkward to say the least as he could not finish it well. Later he pounded the ground with both his hands, squatting, a celebration that would have reminded most of us another bowler known for his theatrics.
When Jayawardene played a fast Shapoor Zadran delivery, the ball hit the middle of his bat and the bat snapped right at the point of impact much to the embarrassment of Jayawardene and the other half that he was not holding came down flying on the pitch.
After castling Sangakkara, Hamid Hassan attempted a cart wheeling that looked very awkward to say the least as he could not finish it well. Later he pounded the ground with both his hands, squatting, a celebration that would have reminded most of us another bowler known for his theatrics.
When Jayawardene played a fast Shapoor Zadran delivery, the ball hit the middle of his bat and the bat snapped right at the point of impact much to the embarrassment of Jayawardene and the other half that he was not holding came down flying on the pitch.
This contest once gain reinforced that the Minnows are raising the bar and the gap is closing down. Full Members, watch out.
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