World Cup 2023: Afghanistan extend red-hot match-winning streak, slay Sri Lanka by 7 wickets

Afghanistan raked up a convincing seven-wicket win against Sri Lanka, their third of the World Cup campaign at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Monday (Oct 30) whilst chasing a tricky 242-run target. Playing against the 1996 World Cup champions, Afghanistan never looked out of place and comfortably coasted to victory, riding on enterprising innings from Rahmat Shah (62) andIbrahim Zadran (39)

Afghanistan did flutter in the chase, albeit for the only time in the match whenDilshan Madushanka castled in-form Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the very first over.

The wicket provided Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope but it was quickly snuffed out by the pair of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah. The latter was particularly industrial against the Sri Lankan pacers and managed to manoeuvrethem around the park with relative ease.

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After Shah was sent to the pavilion by Kasun Rajitha, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (58*) joined forces withAzmatullah Omarzai (73*) and managed to nurdle the ball around for singles, before exploding at the back end.

Shahidi remained not out for the second match in a row, batting with calm and composure. Omarzai, who impressed with the ball in the first half of the match, proved to be an adequate ally as the pair never allowed Sri Lankan bowlers to get back into the contest.

Sri Lanka's sorry batting performance

Put into bat first, Fazalhaq, making his comeback, struck early by dismissing Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne. Nissanka and Kusal Mendis steadied the innings with a 62-run stand, but they never got

Shahidi used his spinners during the middle stages and did keep a tab on the run rate. The pressure built worked a charm as both batters were dismissed by the impressive Mujeeb who walked away with an eventual four-fer in the end.

It also triggered a collapse as Sri Lanka slipped from 134 for 2 to 185 for 7. Mathews hung around and found a willing partner in Theekshana to help Sri Lanka get past 240.

The win against Sri Lanka comes on the back of a euphoric and dominant victory against arch-rivals Pakistan. The win puts Afghanistan in good stead for securing a top-4 place and makes the middle-table logjam all the more interesting.

(With inputs from agencies)

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