AFG VS SL - Match 7, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Three competitive days on the trot and this World Cup is certainly buzzing. Bangladesh started it, Pakistan pushed the envelope and today, Sri Lanka have managed to regain some lost energy. The other sub-continental side, India, are finally set to make their first appearance tomorrow against a injury-hit South Africa at Southampton. Bangladesh are also in action as they face New Zealand at The Oval in a day-nighter. Let's hope the trend of close games continue. On that note, this is Hari Sadanandan signing off on behalf of my mates Varun Dixit, Akshay Maanay, Vineet Anantharaman, Sriram AS, Abhinand Raghavendran and Shashikant Singh. Cheers!

Nuwan Pradeep is the Man of the Match for his career-best figures of 9-1-31-4.

Karunaratne: We had a good start after a long time but suddenly, we lost a couple of wickets and were on the back foot. That's the negative part but otherwise, the bowling and fielding was really good. After losing the first game, it's not easy to keep your mind positive. We have the experience in these conditions and that helped. Only thing we need to work on is to improve our batting in the middle overs. Wickets were the key, if the openers get going, then 187 isn't easy to defend. Their openers went hard but we knew that it was a matter of a couple of wickets and that pushed them on the back foot. (Whether they believe now after the win) Of course, we do. As I said, batting needs to improve a bit but the bowlers did really well. Need to work on our middle overs batting a bit.

Naib: (Where things went wrong) Start of the day, we didn't bowl in good areas and lost momentum from there. They got to 100 in no time. At one point, I thought they would get to 300 but Nabi bowled really well. Wicket wasn't easy for the batters, so I was telling the bowlers to hit the right spots, hit the deck. In the middle overs, Dawlat and Hamid found their lines. Credit goes to them and the other bowlers. Target wasn't that tough, especially considering how we have been preparing recently as a chasing side. We need improvement in the batting department, need to learn to stitch small partnerships, especially against such quality bowling. At the start of the day, it was cloudy and I expected it to be the same throughout. We could have batted better, played straighter and watched the ball better.

Thisara Perera: I'm really happy as a bowler. 187 was an easy target to chase. As a bowling and fielding unit, we did really well. If we bowled the right lengths, the ball would do something .. in seaming conditions. I stuck to my basic plans. Fielding wise, normally I am a good fielder. I took a good catch for my team at a crucial time. We have a good experienced bowling unit. We all believed; we all play together. In these conditions, we believed we could defend.

19:10 Local Time, 18:10 GMT, 23:40 IST: If it was Pakistan who conquered Trent Bridge after a humiliating defeat in the first game, today was Sri Lanka's turn to get hold of Cardiff. Agreed that the opponents they had weren't as strong as Pakistan's but Afghanistan are no pushovers these days and this was a game that was touted to be 50-50. With a revised target of 187 from 41 overs, Naib's men started well too but once the opening stand was broken, wickets fell in a heap. Najibullah and his captain repaired things with a partnership but the Lankans broke the stand just when it was threatening. The former battled on but an inspired spell of seam bowling from Pradeep and a yorker masterclass from Malinga proved too hot to handle for Afghanistan as they fell well short. Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka imploded in bizarre fashion, losing their last nine wickets for just 57 runs but perhaps, Afghanistan had leaked far too many runs in helpful conditions with the new ball. The eventual result certainly suggests so. They will be gutted, having squandered a golden opportunity.

First win for Sri Lanka in six ODIs in Cardiff

Sri Lanka's last ten ODIs vs Full Member teams:
Lost vs NZ
Lost vs NZ
Lost vs NZ
Lost vs SA
Lost vs SA
Lost vs SA
Lost vs SA
Lost vs SA
Lost vs NZ
WON vs Afg

Malinga to Hamid, out Bowled!! The signature Malinga yorker to sign things off! He lets out a roar and is absolutely animated out there. He'd been vocal about the team's performances of late and was a furious man today as well with some misfields off his bowling. He's put all that on the back burner and delivered when his side wanted him to. A pacy one on the blockhole, Hamid tries as hard as he can but he can only do so much. Hamid b Malinga 6(5) [6s-1]

Malinga to Hamid, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Malinga to Hamid, SIX, he's clubbed this into the skies! And it's over the fence at deep mid-wicket as well. Is there a twist here? Malinga missed his length just a bit and Hamid is a powerful man. Smokes it away with disdain

Malinga to Hamid, no run, short ball outside off, Hamid looks to pull it away but misses

Malinga to Mujeeb, 1 run, yorker to start with, what else did you expect? Mujeeb is late to get his bat down and gets a faint inside edge onto the pad. Trickles towards square leg and they cross

Mujeeb Ur Rahman, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Udana to Najibullah, out Najibullah Run Out!! This is the game right here for Sri Lanka! Needed something special to get rid of Najibullah and that's exactly what Karunaratne provides. This was bunted towards extra cover and Najibullah had to run, if he wanted to retain strike. Sri Lanka's captain was quick to attack the ball and hit the bulls-eye at the bowler's end. Najibullah was always struggling in such a scenario, he's well short. The Lankans are pumped. They know that they're almost there. Najibullah run out (Karunaratne) 43(56) [4s-6]

Udana to Najibullah, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!

Udana to Najibullah, no run, superbly executed slower ball from Udana, Najibullah was early into the slog, almost swinging himself off his stance. Goes on the bounce to the keeper

Udana to Najibullah, no run, Udana ensures that the Free Hit isn't scored off. Fires in another bouncer and Najibullah can't do much about this one

Husain: "Win or Lose. This Afghanistan team never ceases to win hearts with their attitude towards the game. Incredible spirit."

Udana to Najibullah, no ball, FOUR, streaky runs! But they all count and Afghanistan won't mind how they come at this stage. Najibullah swung hard at this one but the length wasn't there and the result was a thick edge. Third man is squarer and the ball races away to the fence. Hang on, SL don't have enough fielders in the ring and it's a no ball! Gee, what drama! Free Hit to follow

Udana to Najibullah, no run, superb riposte from Udana! Digs it in short and well-directed as well, Najibullah has no option but to evade it