Afghanistan were on the verge of eliminating Sri Lanka from the Asia Cup 2023 but fell short by 2 runs. Chasing 291 in 37.1 overs to qualify for the Super-Four stage, Afghanistan came close to stunning the defending champions, but two wickets in the 38th over ended their campaign in the Continental Cup.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lauded the Afghans for their display and labelled the game as the best of the ongoing tournament so far.
“Srilanka ne match jeeta or Afghanistan ne dil ❤️. Best game of this Asia Cup by far. #AsiaCup2023,” he wrote.
SL won the toss and elected to bat first. Kusal Mendis smashed 92 runs to keep his team’s scorecard ticking. Apart from him, Pathum Nissanka (41), Dunith Wellalage (33 not out), Dimuth Karunaratne (32 runs) and Maheesh Theekshana (28) also played handy knocks.
For Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi (65 off 32 balls) Hashmatullah Shahid (59) Rahmat Shah (45) were among the runs. Kasun Rajitha took 4 wickets of Afghanistan.