Riding on superb efforts from Ibrahim & rest of the top order, Afghanistan posted a competitive target of 294 & then managed to restrict Sri Lanka 60 runs short owing to some hostile fast bowling by Farooqi & Gulbadin.
Ibrahim orchestrates his second ODI century in style
Ibrahim thoroughly deserves accolades for his absolute grit to hold one end up thereby scoring his second ton in just 6th ODI innings. Along the way he got good support from half centurions Gurbaz & Rahmat Shah to give power hitters an ideal launch pad to go hammer & tongs in the slog overs. Najib provided some quick fire works but fell short of his fifty by eight runs. After Najib’s departure, the middle & tail couldn’t wag and the team could only reach to 294 which at one point seemed way more than 310.
Having said that, the target was still a competitive one & it required some tight discipline from the bowlers. Farooqi was very aggressive from the start & Yamin at the other end was losing his line & control pretty consistently. Although both of them got a wicket each in the power play but Sri Lankan’s were at par in their chase.
Mujeeb unable to figure out the right pace & line at Pallekele
Historically the turf of Pallekele have always encouraged plenty of runs. The flat nature of the deck usually makes spinners less effective. But the way Mujeeb was unable to figure out the right pace, indicated that he was confused about his role outside the power play. Even after 10 overs, Mujeeb was pushing his deliveries over 100 kmph which is just not the ideal pace. He should try to mix it up by bowling a yard or two slower than what he was delivering. Additionally he was also struggling to find the right sort of line conceding a handful of wides.
Gulbadin tightened the screws with regular wickets
Although Mujeeb was leaking runs from one end, Gulbadin took charge of proceedings from the other end. Not only did he apply brakes on the scoring, but also started to pick up wickets. He was getting a little bit of movement off the pitch which was causing discomforts to the batters. Hashmat continued with Naib for eight straight overs & it paid dividends. The later ended up with figures of 3/34 which is surely one of his best spells in recent times.
The idea to bring back Farooqi in the second spell was to make further inroads into the wickets column as Sri Lanka was cruising with a healthy run rate. Fazal didn’t disappoint and dislodged Pathum Nissanka with an inside edge thereby denying him the opportunity to get to his second ODI century.
Farooqi produced his career best figures of 4/49
Looking at the way wickets were falling from the other end, Hasaranga took charge and went all guns blazing. He took Nabi for 22 runs in an over with four boundaries & a six. Although he fought well with a well made fifty but unfortunately ran short of partners as Rashid, Yamin & Farooqi kept plucking out wickets regularly to leave the Lankan’s stranded at 234 inside 38 overs. Eventually with the wicket of Hasaranga, Farooqi produced career best figures of 4/49 off nine overs.
This was Afghanistan’s 11th win out of the 13 super league ODIs that they’ve played so far. One more victory in this league will ensure a guaranteed qualification into next year’s World Cup throwing all permutations & combinations out of the window. With two more games in the series still to go, the team would ideally be looking to get one more victory to seal their fate in the series & the upcoming World Cup.