The Sri Lanka VS Afghanistan game was a shocker. No one expected underdogs Afghanistan to beat Sri Lanka as the Sri Lankan team was looking good off-late. With that being said, it was the exceptional performances from Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Zadran along with Gurbaz with the bat. So, how did the game go? What went on? Here is an in-depth look at the same.
Sri Lanka VS Afghanistan, 1st Innings Review:
The first innings were totally in favor of the Afghanis. They sheerly dominated the opposition from the word goes. The first amazing side of Afghan domination was Fazalhaq Farooqi. This under-dog-like bowler was elite. He was placing the bowl in the right areas and was getting the bowl to swing a mile. He was troubling Kusal Mendis a lot. Finally, on the 5th ball of the innings, Kusal Mendis was sent back. Charith Asalanka was the next one to walk away on his very first ball. Farooqi bowled 3 overs at an economy of 1.7! Sri Lanka was at 3-2.
Mujeeb and Nabi then took over. Bhanuka Rajapakshe did try to stitch partnerships but was running out of partners. It was a combination of good batting and poor bowling. Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The players were playing poor shots. The fall of wickets was something like this, 5-3, 49-4, 60-5, 64-6, and so on. Sri Lanka got wrapped up for 105. With a few hits from Chamika Karunaratne. Fazalhaq Farooqi scalped two wickets and so did Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman.
Sri Lanka VS Afghanistan, 2nd Innings Review:
The second innings was a completely different ball game for the batters. It looked like the Afghan batters were batting on a different pitch. Rahmanullah Gurbaz started to take the bowlers to the cleaners. He was striking at the rate of 250! Hazrat Zazai on the other end was watching the great show. Hasaranga scalped Gurbaz’s wicket for 40 runs but by that time it was too late. Afghanistan won the game by 8 wickets and just less than 10 overs to spare. It was a clinical and dominant performance.
Brief Scores of Sri Lanka VS Afghanistan:
1st Innings:
Bhanuka Rajapaksha: 38 of 29 balls.
Chamika Karunaratne: 31 of 38 balls.
Fazalhaq Farooqi: 11/3.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman: 24/2.
2nd Innings:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz: 40 runs of 18 balls.
Hazratullah Zazai: 37 runs of 28 balls.
Wanindu Hasaranga: 19/1.
To know more go to Asia Cup 2022: Best Indian Team SWOT Analysis. Preview, Predictions, Schedule, Playing XI, Squad.
Read more at Asia Cup 2022: Who is Fazalhaq Farooqi? The Bowler who Impressed Against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2022.
To know more go to the website of Sri Lanka Cricket.