Luckless Sri Lanka suffer from vagaries of the weather

Rahmat Shah and Rahmanullah Gurbaz held the Afghanistan top order together with fifties apiece

Wanindu Hasaranga celebrates the wicket of Gulbadin Naib for six

• Second ODI abandoned after spinners turn on fine performance

  By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka came back strongly in the second ODI with their spinners putting on a fine performance to dismiss Afghanistan for 228 off 48.2 overs but ran into a roadblock when the weather turned foul just 2.4 overs into their run chase when they had wiped out 10 of those runs forcing a no-result at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

The result meant that Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will share the ten points and left the hosts perilously close to failing to make the cut by finishing in the top eight of the ICC World Cup Super League which would gain them automatic qualification for 2023 World Cup in India.

Sri Lanka are currently placed tenth with only 67 points from 20 matches and have four games in hand – three of them against New Zealand in New Zealand in March and need to win at least three of them to stay with an outside chance of qualifying. By winning the first ODI on Friday, Afghanistan holds onto the 1-0 lead in the three-match series which they cannot lose going into the third and final game on Wednesday at the same venue.

Afghanistan once again were lucky with the toss and began their innings in very much the same vein as they had on Friday, with the top order setting the pace. They raced to 135-1 off 28 overs courtesy half-centuries from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah, before the wheels began to fall apart.

Gurbaz raced to his second fifty of the series smashing four sixes and four fours in his 68 off 73 balls. The majority of his runs were scored in front of the wicket which showed how good the pitch was for batting at the initial stages. With Rahmat joining him in a partnership of 113 with a patient knock of 58 off 78 balls (7 fours), Afghanistan were on course to post another competitive total.

But on the same pitch used for the first ODI began to wear out, the Lankan spinners came into the act and began to throttle the Afghan batting. The pressure they applied eventually told as the Afghan middle and lower order folded up rather meekly. In fact Afghanistan lost their last nine wickets for just 93 runs, that’s how well did Sri Lanka’s three-pronged spin attack prove to be.

The Afghan batting collapse was begun by part time spinner Dhananjaya de Silva who came up with a brilliant spell of off-spin bowling to suffocate the run rate to the extent that Gulbraz in his frustration holed out to long-off. 

His dismissal saw the Afghanistan batting fall into a hole as they found run making become a difficult proposition. The slow pace of the pitch not only suited De Silva who ended up with figures of one for 37 off 10 in an unchanged spell, but Wanindu Hasaranga (1/39) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/49).

Mohammad Nabi tried his best to get Afghanistan over the 250-run mark with 41 off 34 balls but the return of Kasun Rajitha saw his demise as well as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman giving the seamer career best figures of 3/31. Both sides went into the match unchanged.

Dhananjaya de Silva put the brakes on the Afghanistan batting with a brilliant spell