Pune, Oct 30: Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai slammed well-timed half-centuries to complement the superb bowling effort of pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi as Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their World Cup match here on Monday.
Chasing 242 for victory, Afghanistan went past the target in 45.2 overs for the loss of three wickets. A 111-run partnership between Shahidi (58 not out) and Azmatullah (73 not out) for the unbroken fourth wicket stand formed the cornerstone of the big win, their third in this tournament.
The result also helped them climb to fifth place on the table with six points and with three more matches remaining the Afghans will dream of making a run for the semifinals. Sri Lanka remained on sixth spot with four points from six matches.
Following their breathtaking performances against England and Pakistan, Afghanistan went into the match against Sri Lanka as slight favourites and pacer Farooqi made a huge statement by unleashing his full fury to grab four wickets for 34 runs to demolish the Islanders for 241 runs.
Rahmat (62), Shahidi and Azmatullah then played with determination to help their side reach the target.
Despite the early dismissal of his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz, dismissed by left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka for a duck, Ibrahim Zadran (39) steadied the innings during a 72-run second wicket stand with Rahmat.
The dangerous Madushanka troubled Afghanistan with a superb display of swing bowling and gave his side the perfect start when his inswinger crashed into the middle-stump of dangerous opener Gurbaz.
The battle-hardened Afghanistan though were not overly rattled by the early shock and kept dispatching the loose deliveries to the ropes, though most of their runs came in singles and twos.
Zadran and No. 3 Rahmat began the rebuilding process, sewing up a half-century partnership, which saw the team overcoming the early jolt.
Earlier, Afghanistan pacer Farooqi played a pivotal role in demolishing Sri Lanka on an easy-paced pitch.
While left-armer Farooqi’s fiery pace made life difficult for the rivals, Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/38) and Rashid Khan (1/50) showed the right intent and energy to create pressure and restrict in-form batters like Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama.
After being asked to bat first, Lankan batting never got going as Farooqi, Mujeeb and Rashid, who was playing his 100th ODI, bowled tight lengths and varied pace despite them getting little assistance from the Maharastra Cricket Association Stadium surface that played true through the 50 overs.
While opener Nissanka batted with confidence and kept the scoreboard ticking, wasting no opportunity to take singles and twos while scoring an occasional boundary, his partner Dimuth Karunaratne, who replaced Kusal Perera in the playing XI, looked tentative and missed the line on a few occasions.
Karunaratne was finally done in by a Farooqi delivery that darted in and led to a vociferous lbw appeal.
Though the umpire wasn’t convinced, the review indicated otherwise and Karunaratne walked back with the score reading 22 for 1.
Nissanka though continued from where he had left off against England, where he had scored a polished unbeaten 77.
But the aggression seemed missing on this day as he dealt mostly in ones and twos with skipper Kusal Mendis. (PTI)
