Rashid Khan: I think a great achievement for me, first to play for country and then get to milestone of playing 100 ODIs. A proud day for me, played all games and I am so happy, it will feel special to win this game. It's a good wicket to bat on, I think we bowled really well and adjusted to the conditions quickly; that's what we planned to restrict them under 250. We had the confidence coming into this game and we expressed our skills. There is lots of dew in the night especially us having 30 overs of spin (helps us).
Sri Lanka's innings simmered without ever coming to a boil, as they continually lost wickets at regular intervals after gaining some control. The pattern continued throughout the innings. Having said that, credit must be given to Afghanistan's bowlers who showed unwavering consistency from the first ball and allowed little leeway for the Sri Lankan batters to break free. Sri Lanka will lament their inability to convert good starts into substantial scores, and they appear to be at least 40-50 runs short of what would have been a good total on this pitch. Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled brilliantly with the new ball as well at the death and snapped up four scalps in a blazing spell. Spinners were good as always, Mujeeb was on top of his game, and all in all, it was a complete bowling performance
Pathum Nissanka is the top-scorer with a 46-run knock, but just when he attempted to shift gears, he nicked one to the keeper. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama got promising starts but lost their wickets at crucial junctures, as the pressure remained relentless. A crucial partnership between the seasoned campaigner Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana helped Sri Lanka post a fighting total. Early wickets for Sri Lanka could certainly make this an interesting contest. The first 10 overs will be crucial. Madushka will return to the comm box for Afghanistan's reply. Hang with us to see how the action unfolds!
Firdose Moonda is at the ground and observes many Afghanistan fans in the aisles, saying, 'It's filled up really nicely. There are loads of Afghan fans.
Ian: "This Afghan team is something else. It's worth remembering that only two of these guys are over 30 and seven are under 25, so the potential is enormous. Can't see them getting worse with time. "
Prateek: "Afghanistan is already creating history in this world cup. They have a chance to win this match and add to their glory."
SANTOSH: "Excellent Fielding and Bowling by Afghanistan - If Afghanistan bat sensibly and try to bat 50 overs- taking the match deep-Afghanistan another win in world cup 2023"
Ramesh: "Refreshing to see umpire giving out on obvious run out decisions rather than sending it upstairs and slowing down the game"
CAK Rajitha run out 5 (14m 7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 71.42