Cardiff (Wales), June 4: Sri Lanka recovered from a dramatic batting collapse to knock over Afghanistan for 152 and seal a 34-run win for its first victory at the Cricket World Cup today.
The Sri Lankans imploded from 144-1 to 201 all out in an innings delayed by nearly three hours because of rain at Sophia Gardens in the Welsh capital.
Chasing a revised target of 187 from a maximum 21 overs, Afghanistan slumped from 34-0 to 57-5 then battled back through a 64-run stand between Gulbadin Naib (23) and Najibullah Zadran (43).
Sri Lanka again responded and took the final five wickets for 31 runs, with recalled seamer Nuwan Pradeep getting 4-31.
The 1996 World Cup winner lost its opening group game to New Zealand by 10 wickets. Afghanistan has two defeats from two matches, after a loss to Australia on Saturday.
The error-strewn match in Cardiff featured 52 extras – Sri Lanka’s 35 was the second-highest scorer in the scorecard – to strengthen the feeling this was a contest between the two teams likely fighting to avoid last place in the 10-team group.
The Afghans’ only win at a World Cup remains the one over Scotland in 2015 but they’ll feel this match slipped from their grasp, especially when Sri Lanka was reeling at 159-6 after three wickets in one over from Mohammad Nabi.
Sri Lanka, which made the fastest 10-over start to the tournament by racing to 79-0, lost its last nine wickets for 57 runs in 15.4 overs. (Agencies)
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka Innings:
D Karunaratne c Najibullah b Nabi 30
K Perera c Shahzad b Rashid 78
L Thirimanne b Nabi 25
K Mendis c Rahmat b Nabi 2
A Mathews c Rahmat b Nabi 0
D de Silva c Shahzad b Hamid 0
T Perera run out (Hashmatullah/Shahzad) 2
I Udana b Dawlat 10
S Lakmal not out 15
L Malinga b Dawlat 4
N Pradeep b Rashid 0
Extras: (LB-10, NB-3, W-22) 35
Total: (all out, 36.5 overs) 201
Bowling: Dawlat 6-0-34-2, Hamid 7-0-53-1, Mujeeb 3-0-19-0, Nabi 9-0-30-4, Gulbadin 4-0-38-0, Rashid 7.5-1-17-2.
Afghanistan Innings:
Mohammad Shazad c Karunaratne b Malings 7
Hazratullah Zazai c Thisara Perera b Pradeep 30
Rahmat Shah c Mathews b Udana 2
Hashmutullah Shahidi c Kusal Perera b Pradeep 4
Mohammad Nabi b Thisara Perera 11
Gulbadin Naib lbw Pradeep 23
Najibullah Zadran run out (Karunaratne) 43
Rashid Khan b N Pradeep 2
Dawlat Zadran b Malinga 6
Hamid Hassan b Malinga 6
Mujeeb Ur Rahman not out 1
Extras: (B-1, W-15, N-1) 17
Total: (all out, 32.4 overs) 152
Bowling: Malinga 6.4-0-39-3, Lakmal 6-0-27-0, Isuru Udana 6-0-28-1, Pradeep 9-1-31-4, Thissara Perera 4-0-19-1,Dhananjay de Silva 1-0-7-0.