BRISBANE, Nov 1: Wanindu Hasaranga led an inspired bowling effort before Dhananjaya de Silva hit a fine fifty as Sri Lanka kept their semifinals hopes alive with a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Mystery spinner Hasaranga (3/13) and pacer Lahiru Kumara (2/30) shared five wickets among themselves to restrict Afghanistan to 144 for 8.
Dhananjaya then took control of the Sri Lankan innings with a strokeful unbeaten 66 off 42 balls as the reigning Asia Cup champions crossed the line with nine balls to spare.
With the win, Sri Lanka climb up to the third spot in group 1.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, dropped out of semifinal contention.
Defending a modest total, Sri Lanka started off well but Mujeeb ur Rahman (2/24) produced a leading edge to mark the end of Pathum Nissanka (10) putting the Sri Lankans under pressure. Fazalhaq Farooqi (1/22) bowled a maiden in the following over to tighten the screws.
However, Kusal Mendis (25) hit back-to-back boundaries in the next over as Sri Lanka dallied to 28 for 1 in the Powerplay.
Rashid Khan (2/31) struck in his first over as Mendis went for a premeditated sweep but top-edged for the keeper to catch it.
Sri Lanka continued to score at a healthy rate, milking boundaries and sixes.
Together with Charith Asalanka (19), Dhananjaya stitched a 54-run stand followed by a 42-run partnership with Bhanuka Rajapaksa (18) to take Sri Lanka to victory.
Earlier, while the Afghans were able to stitch a few partnerships at the top, Sri Lanka did well to strike at regular intervals.
The ball swung in the opening two overs but after that the Sri Lankan bowlers struggled to get their lengths right as Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) donned the role of the aggressor.
However right after the powerplay, Kumara fashioned the first breakthrough for the Sri Lankans.
Gurbaz looked to go big but there was enough movement as the ball traversed the gap between the bat and pad to crash into the stumps.
The spinners were then able to slow down the proceedings after the wicket but Usman Ghani (27) whacked Kumara for a six to long off.
Looking to up the ante, Ghani once again tried to go for it in the 11th over off Hasaranga. However, the Afghan was done by a googly and skipper Dasun Shanaka pouched it at deep mid-wicket.
Ibrahim Zadran (22) became Kumara’s second victim in the 13th over.
Mohammad Nabi (13) wasn’t able to stay in the middle for long as Afghanistan failed to fire in the death, losing five wickets for 40 runs off 30 balls. (PTI)
