All-round Afghanistan seal quarter-final berth

Afghanistan 284/7 in 50 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 86) beat Sri Lanka 202 in 37.3 overs (Jehan Daniel 48; Naveen ul-Haq 4/35) by 32 runs on the DLS Method

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Rain usually is one of the more annoying facets of this beautiful game. But on Wednesday (17 January) at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei, it turned what seemed a regulation victory for Afghanistan into a street-fight that kept both teams interested till the end overs. Eventually, Afghanistan prevailed, winning by 32 runs on the DLS Method.

Afghanistan’s mammoth 284/7 – thanks to half centuries from Ibrahim Zadran (86 off 112), Ikram Ali Khil (55 off 89) and Darwish Rasooli (63 off 44) – had looked beyond Sri Lanka after they lost early wickets, but when rain enforced a revision of their target to 235 off 38 overs, Sri Lanka sensed a chance.

They resumed at 114/3 in 25 overs, with Kamindu Mendis and Jehan Daniel, but the latter holed within five balls of the restart. It was a blow for Sri Lanka – having been reduced to 11/2 earlier, Daniel and Krishan Sanjula had steadied the innings with a 76-run stand. Sanjula (41) holed out off Qais Ahmed before the rain-break, and with Daniel (48) walking back as well on resumption, Sri Lanka needed something special from their captain.

He seemed very likely to provide that. With Ashen Bandara for company, Mendis made a good fist of it. The two went after every ball, and connected with a fair few, resulting in boundaries of Mujeeb Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zahir Khan and Naveen. Zahir was even taken over the fence by Bandara, as 30 quick runs were added for the sixth wicket.

For a while, it seemed Sri Lanka could hope to sneak this one. However, given Sri Lanka’s enterprise, Afghanistan sensed a wicket every ball, and kept at it. The conditions – overcast, windy and slippery – didn’t help matters, but Afghanistan took their chance when it came, Mendis (32) not getting much behind his pull off Omarzai that ended up with the fielder at midwicket.

Thereafter, it was a steady slide, with Omarzai scalping Bandara (38) before Naveen dismantled the tail. He was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers with 4/35, although there were a couple of catches dropped off him. He won’t mind. He’s led the team to the quarterfinals.

Earlier, Naveen had stated his wish for a 250-plus total after being put in, admitting he had wanted to bat first anyway. Rasooli’s belligerent knock in the death overs helped Afghanistan do so.

Sri Lanka had begun the day well with Thisaru Rashmika trapping Rahmanullah Gurbaz in front for a 17-ball 7 in the seventh over. Thereafter, they were pumped, with the bowlers sending in the short stuff even as the fielders threw themselves around. Zadran and Ali Khil rode the storm though, and gradually put the pressure back on the Sri Lankans with a 115-run stand for the second wicket.

Ali Khil eventually walked back when he holed out off Mendis, and Zadran followed suit four overs later after a knock that comprised five hefty sixes. Afghanistan were 172/3 in the 38th over, but Rasooli then single-handedly propelled the innings.

His long, powerful arms allowed him to thwack the ball like few can at this level. While he was in the middle, Sri Lanka were staring at a total in excess of 300, but his unfortunate dismissal – a run-out – put the breaks on Afghanistan. Nisar Wahdat looked to take charge, but holed out for a 20-ball 25, while the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai (20) and Qais Ahmed (10) ensured Sri Lanka would still need a special effort to emerge winners. They couldn’t quite find that.