Afghanistan goes one-up with facile six-wicket win

 Charith Asalanka top scored for Sri Lanka with a brilliant knock of 91

• First ODI at Hambantota

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Ibrahim Zadran’s majestic run a ball knock of 98 (11 fours, 2 sixes) and a composed innings of 55 off 80 balls (3 fours) from Rahmat Shah and their 146-run partnership for the second wicket saw Afghanistan coast home by six wickets to win the first ODI against Sri Lanka in the three-match series played at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium yesterday.

Afghanistan chased down Sri Lanka’s total of 268, scoring 269-4 to win with 19 balls to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

On a good batting surface Sri Lanka’s bowling lacked penetration and their task was made even harder when fast bowler Lahiru Kumara limped off the field after bowling only 4.3 overs. Sri Lanka took a big risk by going with four frontline bowlers two of whom were making their ODI debuts – Matheesha Pathirana and Dushan Hemantha, and were reduced to just one strike bowler in Kasun Rajitha who bowled his heart out for figures of 2/49. Hemantha’s nine overs cost 50 runs without a wicket, and Pathirana struggled to switch from T20 cricket to the 50-over format bowling wayward most of the time conceding 66 runs off 8.5 overs for one wicket. More importantly, he contributed largely to the number of wides bowled by Sri Lanka with eight out of 22. However, his captain Dasun Shanaka showed faith in the youngster saying, “For Pathirana coming straight from the IPL is not easy, especially to play a 50-over game. But this is the perfect game for him, so we will continue with him. We need to win, but mainly we need to get ready for the qualifiers. We’ll change the bowlers, but the batting line-up will stay the same.”

This series against Afghanistan is all about Sri Lanka preparing for the ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe later this month. Although it will be of paramount importance to win, Sri Lanka’s focus mainly will be to use the series to get their combinations right. For yesterday’s game they left out their key fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera and experienced spinner Maheesh Theekshana to give Pathirana and Hemantha a break. These two bowlers should be back for the second ODI on Sunday.

Invited to bat first Sri Lanka’s top order failed to fire as they lost four wickets for 84 in 20 overs. A partnership of 99 for the fifth wicket between Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva put them back on track for a big total reaching 183-4 in 37 overs. But once again their lower order failed to capitalise and from a position of 263-6, they collapsed to 268 all out losing their last four wickets for only five runs.

Pathum Nissanka made 38 at the top of the order but the two experienced batters Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, on his 36th birthday, failed. It was left to Asalanka to resurrect the innings with a peach of a knock 91 off 95 balls (12 fours) and De Silva whose 51 came off 59 balls (5 fours). Hemantha showed his skills as a batsman chipping in with a useful 22 off 20 balls and helping Asalanka add 48 for the seventh wicket, but Asalanka trying to retain the strike was run out at a crucial phase and Sri Lanka’s innings simply folded up tamely, bringing it to an anti-climactic end.

It was a very professional performance by Afghanistan on the field with the ball and with the bat. They showed discipline right throughout the Sri Lankan innings; their bowlers bowled tight lengths and were helped with some early movement off the pitch after inviting the opposition to bat first. They executed their plans well according to the conditions and were rewarded for it. Ibrahim Zadran was Player of the Match.