Wanindu Hasaranga, the spin wizard of Sri Lankan team, claimed three wickets for 13 runs as the 2014 T20 World Cup champions crushed Asian rivals, Afghanistan by six wickets on Tuesday, maintaining their modest hopes of advancing to the semifinals.
Afghanistan batting first was restricted to 144/8 thanks to the 25-year-old Hasaranga’s heroics before the Islanders batters in second innings scored the necessary runs with nine balls remaining, collecting two crucial points and bringing their total to four from four games.
Last year’s T20 World Cup saw Hasaranga emerge as the top wicket-taker, and the Sri Lanka all-rounder is on pace to accomplish the same thing this year. At The Gabba, he was also named “Player of the Match.”
Afghanistan opening duo, Ghani and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) had given Afghanistan a strong start by putting on 42 for the opening wicket in the power play, until Hasaranga’s timely intervention following the batting Powerplay.
Hasaranga finished with match-winning for over spell figures of 3/13 and even chipped in with an excellent catch in the outfield to help dismiss the dangerous Najibullah Zadran (18).
The victory gave a sigh of relief as the Lankans are staying in contention for an unlikely semifinal berth,
Nevertheless, if they want to finish in the top two place in Group 1, they will need everything to go their way. To have any hope of making it into the last four, Dasun Shanaka’s team will need to upset England on Saturday and have other results go their way.
Afghanistan will play against Australia on Friday; they are no longer running for a semifinal spot and it will be a dead rubber for the Afghans, but on the other side Australia will look forward to secure a place for semis.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 144/8 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 28, Usman Ghani 27; Wanindu Hasaranga 3/13) lost to Sri Lanka 148/4 in 18.3 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 66 not out; Mujeeb Ur Rahman2/24) by six wickets.