Afghanistan registered their third win in this World Cup on Monday evening after defeating Sri Lanka by seven wickets. The team who just had one win from the previous two WorldCups, have already won three matches and held their fans’ expectations high.
While with yet another loss, Sri Lanka’s World Cup dream for this year is almost sinking.
Afghanistan defeated the Sri Lankan army by seven wickets! Keep their semi-final hopes alive
Coming to bat first, the Sri Lankan batters didn’t put up a great show, as they were bowled out for 241 runs in 49.3 overs. Nissanka (46), Mendis (39), and Samarawickrama (36) had good starts, but they failed to make it big.
Fazalhaq Farooqi didn’t let the batters get too comfortable and kept taking wickets. He finished with a four-wicket haul and was rightly declared the Player of the Match.
Coming to chase the not-so-big target, Afghan opener Gurbaz was dismissed early for a duck. However, the next batters didn’t let the pressure build and played their respective parts to help Afghanistan cross the target in 45.2 overs.
Rahmat and Omarzai smashed 62 and 73, respectively, with Shahidi scoring 58 and Zadran a well-made 39. Madushanka picked two wickets, but that wasn’t enough to restrict their opponent below the target.
It was Afghanistan’s all-around performance on Monday evening that helped them seal the victory and get going in the semi-final race.
Post match interviews
Shahidi sounded pleased with his team’s performance and mentioned the overall game they played and that they were great in all three departments. He also mentioned that Jonathan Trott is very positive and always pushes them to do better. He concluded by congratulating the Afghanistan supporters and gave a special thanks to the Indian fans who came out in numbers to support them.
Kushal Mendis said that they didn’t do well with the bat, and a score near 300 or at least 280 could be sufficient. He also said that the dew factor in the next inning made it difficult for the spinners. Mentioning Madushanka, he praised his great performance, and he’s having high hopes he’ll continue to carry the form.
The World Cup is all set to step to November, and October saw some real thrills and crazy games. It will only go better from here, with lots of surprises and action still to be unfolded.
On Tuesday, the iconic Eden Gardens is set to host Pakistan and Bangladesh in a much-anticipated encounter.
Stay tuned, and keep cheering for India!
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