Dubai :Mohammad Nabi led Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka in the 1st Match of Asia Cup 2022 by 8 wickets in Dubai International Stadium.
Chasing a small target of 106 in 20 overs, Hazratullah Zazai & Rahmanullah Gurbaz went havoc , scoring 37*(28) & 40(18) respectively, finishing the match in the 11th over, thus, not only winning the match but also boosting up their net run rate heavily.
Afghanistan openers go big in the Powerplay 👊#SLvAFG | #AsiaCup2022 | 📝 Scorecard: https://t.co/YV4rkr5mLZ pic.twitter.com/CybgzflOtr
— ICC (@ICC) August 27, 2022
Having put to Bat, Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi with his fiery spell picked up 2 wickets in the 1st over, accompanied by his fellow Naveen ul Haq, who also joined the party, thus removing 3 top order players in the powerplay , being economical. The pain of Sri Lanka seemed to get relieved when a small partnership between Bhanuka Rajapaksa & Danuska Gunathilaka started to build , but the struggle of Sri Lanka started again when the spin thread of Afghanistan began, with the likes of Mujeeb ur Rahman, Rashid Khan & Mohammad Nabi, Sri Lankan batters succumbed. Chamika Karunaratne played a fighting innings of 31(38) before being the 3rd prey of Farooqi, but placed Sri Lanka to a total of 105 runs.
BRIEF SCORECARD
1st innings
SRI LANKA : 105-10(19.4)
Bhanuka Rajapaksa : 38(29)
Chamika Karunaratne : 31(28)
AFGHANISTAN :
Fazalhaq Farooqi : 3/11
Mohammad Nabi : 2/14
2ND INNINGS
AFGHANISTAN : 106/2(10.1)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz : 40(18)
Hazratullah Zazai : 37*(28)
SRI LANKA
Wanidu Hasaranga : 19/1
