A spirited Afghanistan gave Sri Lankan a mighty scare but veteran batsman Mahela Jayawardene struck a resilient century to help the Islanders pull off a slippery 4-wicket win in their Pool A match of the cricket World Cup, here on Sunday.
Chasing 233 for a win at the University Oval, Sri Lanka were reduced to 51 for four before a 126-run fifth wicket partnership between Mahela (100) and skipper Angelo Mathews (44) helped them scrape to their target in 48.2 overs.
Openers Lahiru Thirimanne (0) and Tilakaratne Dilshan (0) disappointed big time with new-ball bowlers Dawlat Zadran (1-44) and Shapoor Zadran (1-48) making early inroads.
Kumar Sangakkara (7) couldn’t stay long as first-change pacer Hamid Hassan (3-45) got the veteran batsman cleaned up and soon sent Dimuth Karunaratne (23) back in the hut.
Jayawardene, registering his 35th ODI century, and Mathews then did the grinding bit for 28 odd overs as the duo combined the right dose of caution and aggression.
But just when the Lankans thought they had set themselves up to accellerate towards the target, Mathews was run out in the 41st over and Hassan scalped Mahela, who struck 8 fours and a six in his 120-ball stay, soon after to take them by the sword.
Jeevan Mendis (9 not out) and Thisara Perera (47 not out) then stitched an unbeaten 58-run partnership, maintaining a run-rate of over 8, to take Lanka over line.
Perera kept his cool till the end to smash 6 fours and a six in his 26-ball blitz.
The Islanders survived a jittery moment in the 48th over when Hassan got Mendis caught behind only to see the third umpire overturn the decision after the left-hander’s referral.
Sri Lanka required 14 runs to win at that time.
The little bit of luck is what Lanka needed as they finally registered their first win after losing to New Zealand in the tournament opener.
The Mohammad Nabi-led side though are proving to be real challengers in their maiden 50-over World appearance but are yet to register a win in two games.
Scoreboard
Afghanistan
Javed Ahmadi c Herath b Lakmal 24
Nawroz Mangal c Thirimanne b Mathews 10
Asghar Stanikzai c Mendis b Herath 54
Samiullah Shenwari c Mathews b Perera 38
Mohammad Nabi b Malinga 21
Najibullah Zadran c Perera b Lakmal 10
Afsar Zazai c Herath b Malinga 19
Mirwais Ashraf c Lakmal b Malinga 28
Dawlat Zadran b Mathews 4
Shapoor Zadran not out 1
Extras (6lb,16w,1nb) 23
TOTAL (all out) 232
Overs: 49.4. Batting time: 216 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-40, 3-128, 4-157, 5-159, 6-175, 7-221, 8-227, 9-227, 10-232.
Bowling: Lasith Malinga 9.4-1-41-3 (6w,1nb), Suranga Lakmal 10-1-36-2 (2w), Angelo Mathews 7-0-41-3 (6w), Thisara Perera 10-0-54-1 (1w), Rangana Herath 10-0-41-1 (1w), Jeevan Mendis 3-0-13-0.
PowerPlay 1 (1-10): 40/2; PowerPlay 2 (36-40): 10/2
Sri Lanka
Lahiru Thirimanne lbw b Dawlat 0
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Zazai b Shapoor 0
Kumar Sangakkara b Hamid Hassan 7
Dimuth Karunaratne c Nawroz Mangal b Hamid Hassan 23
Mahela Jayawardene c Nawroz Mangal b Hamid Hassan 100
Angelo Mathews run out 44
Jeevan Mendis not out 9
Thisara Perera not out 47
Extras (2lb,3w,1nb) 6
TOTAL (for 6 wickets) 236
Overs: 48.2. Batting time: 308 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-2, 3-18, 4-51, 5-177, 6-178.
Did not bat: Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal.
Bowling: Dhawat Zadran 9-0-44-1 (1w), Shapoor Zadran 10-1-48-1, Hamid Hassan 9-0-45-3 (1nb), Mirwais Ashraf 8.1-0-31-0, Mohammad Nabi 5.2-0-28-0 (2w), Asghar Stanikzai 0.5-0-6-0, Samiullah Shenwari 6-0-32-0.
PowerPlay 1 (1-10): 35/3; PowerPlay 2 (36-40): 28/0
Result: Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.
Toss: Sri Lanka
Man-of-the-match: M. Jayawardene
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney, New Zealand, and Richard Illingworth, England.
TV umpire: Johan Cloete, South Africa. Match referee: Chris Broad, England.
Numbers game
2
Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan both fell for golden ducks. The only previous such instance in an ODI was at Guyana in 2006, when Zimbabwe lost Piet Rinke and Terry Duffin off their first ball.
16
Runs in wides conceded by Sri Lanka's bowlers in the Afghanistan innings, the joint-highest in the tournament so far
1075
Mahela Jayawardene is the fourth Sri Lankan in the 1000-run club, after Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, and Kumar Sangakkara. His four hundreds is joint-third in the all-time list; only Sachin Tendulkar (6) and Ricky Ponting (5) have more in World Cups
