In a thrilling match at the Cricket World Cup, Afghanistan managed to pull off yet another upset as they defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in Pune.
This win marked the first time that Afghanistan has won back-to-back games in the tournament.
The captain of the Afghanistan team, Hashmatullah Shahidi, played a crucial role in the victory with his unbeaten 58 runs, while Azmatullah Omarzai also contributed with an unbeaten 73 runs, forming an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership worth 111 runs.
This partnership led their side to victory with four-and-a-half overs remaining as they cruised to a total of 242-3.
The match had a shaky start for Afghanistan when their opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed by Dilshan Madushanka’s fourth ball in the first set of Sri Lanka’s innings to leave their opponents at 0-1.
However, Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran managed to stabilize the innings with a partnership worth 72 runs as Sri Lanka’s bowlers toiled hard for another breakthrough.
Shah smashed his 25th half-century in ODI cricket to score 62 runs.
Earlier in the match, Sri Lanka started well, losing only one wicket in the powerplay when Dimuth Karunaratne was trapped lbw by Fazalhaq Farooqi (4-34) after Afghanistan won the toss and chose to field.
However, no Sri Lanka player made it to a half-century as Afghanistan’s bowlers took wickets at regular intervals.
The Tigers were all out for 241 with three balls remaining in the final over.
