PUNE, Oct 30:
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.
Chasing 242 for victory, Afghanistan went past the target in 45.2 overs for the loss of three wickets. A 111-run partnership between Shahidi (58 not out) and Azmatullah (73 not out) for the unbroken fourth wicket stand formed the cornerstone of the big win, their third in this tournament.
The result also helped them climb to fifth place on the table with six points and with three more matches remaining the Afghans will dream of making a run for the semifinals. Sri Lanka remained on sixth spot with four points from six matches.
Following their breathtaking performances against England and Pakistan, Afghanistan went into the match against Sri Lanka as slight favourites and pacer Farooqi made a huge statement by unleashing his full fury to grab four wickets for 34 runs to demolish the Islanders for 241 runs.
Rahmat (62), Shahidi and Azmatullah then played with determination to help their side reach the target.
Despite the early dismissal of his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz, dismissed by left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka for a duck, Ibrahim Zadran (39) steadied the innings during a 72-run second wicket stand with Rahmat.
The dangerous Madushanka troubled Afghanistan with a superb display of swing bowling and gave his side the perfect start when his inswinger crashed into the middle-stump of dangerous opener Gurbaz. (PTI)
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka Innings:
Pathum Nissanka c Gurbaz b Azmatullah 46
Dimuth Karunaratne lbw b Fazalhaq Farooqi 15
Kusal Mendis c (sub) Najibullah b Mujeeb 39
Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw b Mujeeb 36
Charith Asalanka c Rashid Khan b Fazalhaq Farooqi 22
Dhananjaya de Silva b Rashid Khan 14
Angelo Mathews c Nabi b Fazalhaq Farooqi 23
Dushmantha Chameera run out (Ibrahim Zadran) 1
Maheesh Theekshana b Fazalhaq Farooqi 29
Kasun Rajitha run out (Gurbaz) 5
Dilshan Madushanka not out 0
Extras: (LB-2, W-9) 11
Total: (10 wkts, 49.3 Overs) 241
Fall of Wickets: 22-1, 84-2, 134-3, 139-4, 167-5,180-6, 185-7, 230-8, 239-9, 241-10.
Bowler: Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10-0-38-2, Fazalhaq Farooqi 10-1-34-4, Naveen-ul-Haq 6.3-0-47-0, Azmatullah Omarzai 7-0-37-1, Rashid Khan 10-0-50-1, Mohammad Nabi 6-0-33-0.
Afghanistan Innings:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Dilshan Madushanka 0
Ibrahim Zadran c Karunaratne b Dilshan Madushanka 39
Rahmat Shah c Karunaratne b Rajitha 62
Hashmatullah Shahidi not out 58
Azmatullah Omarzai not out 73
Extras: (LB-1, W-9) 10
Total: (3 wkts, 45.2 Overs) 242
Fall of Wickets: 0-1, 73-2, 131-3.
Bowler: Dilshan Madushanka 9-0-48-2, Kasun Rajitha 10-0-48-1, Angelo Mathews 3-0-18-0, Dushmantha Chameera 9.2-0-51-0, Maheesh Theekshana 10-0-55-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 4-0-21-0.
Today’s match
Pakistan Vs Bangladesh
2:00 PM (Kolkata)