KOLKATA: The fixture that was mostly previewed in favour of Afghanistan didn't quite go as planned. They were good. Just that their opposition was better, stronger and much more experienced, so they proved. Coming into the match with a 'troubled' adjective behind them, Sri Lanka's batsmen, led by
Tillakaratne Dilshan's unbeaten 83, backed a rather ordinary bowling performance to avoid, what many expected, an upset and win by six wickets in the end.
There was a moment in the match where Afghanistan seemed to be taking charge: at the fall of Sri Lanka's third wicket. But then the difference between the two teams became prominent. Afghanistan didn't have the bowlers or the fielders to defend that kind of a total.
A target of 154, set by Afghanistan wasn't going to be a cakewalk. The surface at
Eden Gardens
was slow, one that had quite a bit of turn as well. But even then, the Lankans started with a 12-run over first up.
Hamid Hassan bowled a good second over, beating Dilshan thrice but that was it. Full tosses were bowled and room was provided outside off. Dawlat Zadran was taken for back-to-back sixes, with Dilshan bringing out the 'Dilscoop'. He meted out a similar sort of punishment in the next over to Hassan.
Sri Lanka were five short at the end of five overs of what Afghanistan were at their ten-over mark. Amid the flurry of runs, skipper Dinesh Chandimal was plucked handsomely by
Samiullah Shenwari at midwicket. Out walked Lahiru Thirimanne, who endured a hard 13-ball stay for his 6. Two wickets in three overs gave Afghanistan hope. But standing between that hope and win was Dilshan, who was pretty much spotless with his innings. Even with his partners stuck, Dilshan never seemed flummoxed. The same happened when
Thisara Perera, having waded a six was run-out.
The over that could have been the one Afghanistan needed was taken care of by the opener. An ordinary piece of fielding in the deep and a six over midwicket off Hassan's second spell didn't help. Neither did a couple of misfields near the boundary. This is exactly where it seemed Afghanistan still have a lot to catch up to. Rashid Khan looked the most threatening, but he didn't have the best of fielders to back him.
Chamara Kapugedara was unlucky to be found short of his crease as the ball brushed off Nabi's hand to hit the stumps. Mathews joined Dilshan with 41 needed off 29, and caressed a six and a four to bring the equation further down. Another misfield virtually sealed the game and victory was achieved in the 19th over, fittingly with a Dilshan four.
Afghanistan won the toss, opted to bat first, and then did the first bit well. Skipper
Asghar Stanikzai's crucial half-century, coupled with Shenwari's 13-ball 31, the quickest for Afghanistan, got their side a useful total, with 106 coming in final ten. The surface appeared slow, and that assumption became concrete looking at how difficult the Afghanistan openers looked against Sri Lanka skipper Mathews, who was rolling his fingers over the ball. On a track, technicality would have backfired. Hence, after being stuck for almost three overs, Mohammad Shahzad went for a couple of heaves. One went for four. The other, caught.
Sri Lanka applied the perfect squeeze in the Powerplay, with Afghanistan scoring just 36. Back to back boundaries from Noor Ali Zadran off Nuwan Kulasekara helped but overall, it remained a crawl. Sri Lanka, aware of the fact how difficult run scoring was going to be on this stop-start surface, straightaway went to Rangana Herath, and the move proved brilliant.
After conceding a boundary off his second ball, Herath started darting in. The one he slowed through the air a bit, fetched him a wicket. It pitched slightly outside leg and took his leg stump. Herath and Thisara Perera settled in good rhythm and the going became tougher for Afghanistan. Karim Sadiq, who hadn't opened his account, swung to give wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal a faint nick having faced six balls. Herath then got his second, trapping the experienced Mohammad Nabi to an arm ball.
The period between Afghanistan's fifth and sixth boundary lasted 5.3 overs, an indication how immaculately the Sri Lankan bowlers had taken advantage of conditions. Stanikzai squatted consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardena to breathe some life into their innings and give the healthy Afghan contingent in the stands reason to rejoice.
The joy didn't stop there. Herath, in his second spell was launched for two sixes in three balls, one each - a front-foot pull and a sweep - from Stanikzai and Shenwari, who hadn't quite found his groove before this. He took it a notch the next over, drilling Perera down the ground that brought up Afghanistan's hundred, and reverse-sweeping a slower one next. From 10 off seven, Shenwari raced to 31 off 13 before holding out to long-off.
Stanikzai was on 44 before he brought up his fifty off 42 balls, becoming Afghanistan's highest individual-scorer in T20Is against a top nation, overtaking Noor Ali's 50 against India in 2010. His innings finally came to an end, as he perished in order to spike the run-rate. Najibullah Zadran struck a couple of meaty blows in the final over to sustain the momentum.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 155/4 (Dilshan 83*, Mathews 21*; Nabi 1/25) beat Afghanistan 153/7 (Stanikzai 62, Shenwari 31; Perera 3/33) by six wickets.
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