PUNE, Oct 30 (Online): Fazalhaq Farooqi returned brilliant figures of 4-34 to help Afghanistan book Sri Lanka at a meagre 241 in the ICC World Cup 2023 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Afghanistan drew first blood after opting to bowl with the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne in the sixth over at a total of 22.
Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis then joined hands with Pathum Nissanka (46) to raise 62 runs for the second wicket before Azmatullah Omarzai broke the stand with the wicket of Nissanka.
Mendis added 50 more runs with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the third wicket to help raise the total to 134, however, Mujeeb Ur Rahman sent both of them packing in consecutive overs to halt Sri Lanka’s progress.
Sri Lanka slipped from 134-3 to 185-7, courtesy of Afghanistan’s brilliant bowling effort, which looked poised to book them under 200.
However, former captain Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana stuck around to add 45 runs off 42 balls for the eighth wicket to aid Sri Lanka’s total to 230.
Fazalhaq Farooqi then rained on their parade as he picked up both wickets in back-to-back wickets before Kasun Rajitha’s run-out in the final over ended Sri Lanka’s innings at 241.
Other than Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman achieved figures of 2-38, while Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan picked one wicket each.
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