Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga bowl Sri Lanka to scrappy win
In an error-strewn game, Sri Lanka did just about enough right to secure their first points and hand Afghanistan their second successive defeat
In an error-strewn game, Sri Lanka did just about enough right to secure their first points and hand Afghanistan their second successive defeat
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Ankur Dhawan
7.30pm Afghanistan go to Taunton from here, which has a reputation for being a high scoring venue. Sri Lanka go to Bristol, where they take on Pakistan. It's time for me to make the trek home as well, so on behalf of Peter Della Penna and Thilak Rama, it's goodbye. Thanks for joining, see you tomorrow.
Dimuth Karunaratne I think we had a good start after a long time and suddenly we lost a couple of wickets and we were on the backfoot. Bowling and fielding was the highlight. Wickets are the key, 187 is not easy to defend, we know their openers go hard, but once we got them they were on the backfoot and we kept getting wickets. Bowlers did a really good job, fielder did good job, but batting through the middle stage needs to improve
Gulbadin Naib Start of the day, the bowler's didn't bowl right areas, they scored too heavily in the first ten overs, but it was good how Nabi bowled but it wasn't a good start. Wicket was not easy for the batsmen and so we'd asked the bowlers to hit the deck hard and they came back well during the middle. We need some improvement in the batting, we need more partnerships.
Thisara Perera We all know because of the conditions, the ball does something when you bowl the right length. Fielding wise, I'm normally a good fielder, happy to take a crucial catch. We have an experienced attack, we thought we could defend the total
7.10pm As darkness descended over Sophia Gardens, there was light in the Sri Lankan camp as they scripted a remarkable comeback with the ball and won their first ever match in seven attempts at their bogey venue, Cardiff.
It hadn't started well as the Afghanistan openers got stuck in early but Nuwan Pradeep, inexplicably left out last match, produced a career best performance that included the scalps of the dangerous looking Zazai and Naib, when the Afghanistan captain and Najibullah Zadran were threatening to take the game away.
And when it mattered, it was over to Lasith Malinga, who rolled back the years with some vintage yorkers towards the end. It wasn't the perfect fielding performance either but when it mattered, Dimuth Karunaratne hit the stumps directly to send Najibullah Zadran back and virtually seal the match then and there.
Hamid Hassan b Malinga 6 (12m 5b 0x4 1x6) SR: 120.00
Najibullah Zadran run out 43 (92m 56b 6x4 0x6) SR: 76.78
Also, who holds the record for the most 0 not-outs in Tests?
It was the fifth pace bowler in the Sri Lanka attack who made the difference, handing veteran Lasith Malinga his first ODI win after 21-straight defeats
Pradeep hailed by his team for keeping them in the contest against Afghanistan
Afghanistan are one of the greatest things to happen to the game, yes, but they are also professional cricketers who want to win matches
ESPNcricinfo's Live Report of the match between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, live from Cardiff