Sri Lanka recovered from a dramatic batting collapse to knock over Afghanistan for 152 and seal a 34-run win for its first victory at the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankans imploded from 144-1 to 201 all out in an innings delayed by nearly three hours because of rain at Sophia Gardens in the Welsh capital.
Chasing a revised target of 187 from a maximum 21 overs, Afghanistan slumped from 34-0 to 57-5 then battled back through a 64-run stand between Gulbadin Naib (23) and Najibullah Zadran (43).
Sri Lanka again responded and took the final five wickets for 31 runs, with recalled seamer Nuwan Pradeep getting 4-31.
The 1996 World Cup winner lost its opening group game to New Zealand by 10 wickets. Afghanistan has two defeats from two matches, after a loss to Australia on Saturday.
The error-strewn match in Cardiff featured 52 extras Sri Lanka’s 35 was the second-highest scorer in the scorecard to strengthen the feeling this was a contest between the two teams likely fighting to avoid last place in the 10-team group.
The Afghans’ only win at a World Cup remains the one over Scotland in 2015 but they’ll feel this match slipped from their grasp, especially when Sri Lanka was reeling at 159-6 after three wickets in one over from Mohammad Nabi.
Sri Lanka, which made the fastest 10-over start to the tournament by racing to 79-0, lost its last nine wickets for 57 runs in 15.4 overs.
Scoreboard:
SRI LANKA
Dimuth Karunaratne c Najibullah b Nabi 30 (45b, 3x4) , Kusal Perera c Shahzad b Rashid 78 (81b, 8x4) , Lahiru Thirimanne b Nabi 25 (34b, 1x4) , Kusal Mendis c Rahmat b Nabi 2 (2b) , Angelo Mathews c Rahmat b Nabi 0 (2b) , Dhananjaya de Silva c Shahzad b Hamid 0 (4b) , Thisara Perera run out 2 (4b) , Isuru Udana b Dawlat 10 (21b, 1x6) , Suranga Lakmal (not out) 15 (13b, 2x4) , Lasith Malinga b Dawlat 4 (14b, 1x4) , Nuwan Pradeep b Rashid 0 (4b) ; Extras (lb-10, w-22, nb-3): 35; Total (in 36.5 overs): 201.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-92 (Karunaratne, 13.1 overs), 2-144 (Thirimanne, 21.2), 3-146 (Kusal Mendis, 21.4), 4-146 (Mathews, 21.6), 5-149 (Dhananjaya de Silva, 22.6), 6-159 (Thisara Perera, 25.4), 7-178 (Udana, 31.3), 8-180 (Kusal Perera, 32.2), 9-199 (Malinga, 35.6).
AFGHANISTAN BOWLING
Dawlat 6-0-34-2, Hamid 7-0-53-1, Mujeeb 3-0-19-0, Nabi 9-0-30-4, Naib 4-0-38-0, Rashid 7.5-1-17-2.
AFGHANISTAN
Mohammad Shahzad c Karunaratne b Malinga 7 ( 12b, 1x4 ), Hazratullah Zazai c Thisara Perera b Pradeep 30 ( 25b, 3x4, 1x6 ), Rahmat Shah c Mathews b Udana 2 ( 11b ), Hashmatullah Shahidi c Kusal Perera b Pradeep 4 ( 17b ), Mohammad Nabi b Thisara Perera 11 ( 16b, 1x4 ), Gulbadin Naib lbw b Pradeep 23 ( 32b, 2x4 ), Najibullah Zadran run out 43 ( 56b, 6x4 ), Rashid Khan b Pradeep 2 ( 4b ), Dawlat Zadran b Malinga 6 ( 18b, 1x4 ), Hamid Hassan b Malinga 6 ( 5b, 1x6 ), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (not out) 1 ( 1b ); Extras (b-1, w-15, nb-1): 17; Total (in 32.4 overs): 152.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-34 (Mohammad Shahzad, 4.4 overs), 2-42 (Rahmat, 7.5), 3-44 (Zazai, 8.4), 4-57 (Shahidi, 12.5), 5-57 (Nabi, 13.4), 6-121 (Naib, 24.5), 7-123 (Rashid, 26.1), 8-136 (Dawlat, 30.4), 9-145 (Najibullah, 31.6).
SRI LANKA BOWLING
Malinga 6.4-0-39-3, Lakmal 6-0-27-0, Udana 6-0-28-1, Pradeep 9-1-31-4, Thisara Perera 4-0-19-1, Dhananjaya de Silva 1-0-7-0.
Sri Lanka won by 34 runs (DLS method).
MoM: Nuwan Pradeep
Toss: Afghanistan.
Match reduced to 41 overs .
