AFG VS SL - 30th Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Just one win from two World Cups before this for Afghanistan, and they now have 3 in 6 games. If they can win 2 of their remaining 3, they have a decent chance of making it to the semis. For a lot of years, it was their bowling that made the headlines, but now it's their batting. Clear sign of a team that's worked really hard to get all the bases covered. For all the associate nations, Afghanistan's rise in international cricket should act as a great catalyst in hoping and doing great things on the world stage. Netherlands, too, will have some fond stories to tell you'd assume. The World Cup, story, however just got interesting folks. It's gonna get tougher and tougher for the bottom dwellers. Pakistan take on Bangladesh tomorrow at the Eden Gardens and the team that loses could well get that much more closer to the exit door. Do remember to tune in for that. Hope you had great fun following this game. Until next time, cheers and goodbye from Raju Peethala, Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Abhinav Guha and Harish V.

Hashmatullah Shahidi | Afghanistan skipper: Quite happy and proud of the team. Happy for the way we performed in all 3 departments. Last game gave us lot of confidence and belief that we can chase any kind of target. It was a very professional performance from the bowlers today. All the coaching and managing staff are working hard and giving us confidence. Especially Jonathan (Trott) he is always positive, before Pakistan game he told me one word and that changed my mindset a lot. As a captain you should lead from the front and that's what I am trying to do, I will try to maintain that in the rest of the tournament. Rashid Khan is a special player and the best player in the world. He (Rashid Khan) is a very energetic guy and always keeps the team very lively. I want to congratulate all the Afghanistan supporters and especially want to thank the Indian fans for coming out and supporting us.

Kusal Mendis | Sri Lankan skipper: We didn't do enough with the bat. 300 or maybe 280 would have been sufficient, but not to be. Bowlers have done well in the first 10 overs and the dew has come in little bit and then it became a little hard to bowl the spinners. Actually there was dew today and the ball came on to the bat nicely in the second innings. He (Madushanka) has done really well, in the first couple of games as well and hope he will continue his form going forward.

Stats courtesy Shashikant Singh

Afghanistan wins in ODI World Cups
Beat Scotland by 1 wicket, Dunedin, 2015
Beat England by 69 runs, Delhi, 2023
Beat Pakistan by 8 wickets, Chennai, 2023
Beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, Pune, today*

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka in ODI World Cups
2015 - Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets
2019 - Sri Lanka won by 34 runs
2023 - Afghanistan won by 7 wickets*

Most matches lost by a team in World Cups
43 - Sri Lanka*
42 - Zimbabwe
37 - England
36 - Pakistan
35 - New Zealand
35 - West Indies

Highest stands for Afghanistan in World Cups (any wicket)
133 - Ikram Alikhil & Rahmat Shah vs WI, Leeds, 2019 (2nd)
130 - Ibrahim Zadran & R Gurbaz v PAK, Chennai, 2023 (1st)
121 - Azmatullah Omarzai & H Shahidi vs IND, Delhi, 2023 (4th)
114 - Ibrahim Zadran & Rahmanullah Gurbaz v ENG, Delhi, 2023 (1st)
111* - Azmatullah Omarzai & H Shahidi vs SL, Pune, today (4th)*

Highest scores from No.5 or below for Afghanistan in World Cups
73* - Azmatullah Omarzai vs SL, Pune, today*
62 - Azmatullah Omarzai vs IND, Delhi, 2023
58 - Ikram Alikhil vs ENG, Delhi, 2023

Most 50-plus scores without a hundred in ODIs
42 - Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK)
25 - Andrew Jones (NZ)
21 - Graham Thorpe (ENG)
18 - Hashmatullah Shahidi*
17 - Kim Hughes (AUS)

This is the first time Afghanistan won back-to-back matches in the ODI World Cups.

Afghanistan in the World Cup
First 17 matches - 1 Win
Last 4 matches - 3 Wins

Fazalhaq Farooqi | Player of the Match (translated by Rashid Khan): Thanks to the Almighty, nice to have 3 wins in the tournament, happy to have contributed to the team win. I was looking for swing with the new ball, but I didn't get it, so I just kept it simple, hit the right areas, didn't want to concede boundaries and that's how I succeeded. We conceded too many runs in the last few overs (in the previous matches), we put in the hard yards in the nets, bowling with accuracy and trying out as many variations as possible. That's exactly what we went out and did in the match today.

21:56 local, 16:26 GMT, 21:56 IST: Twice in a row, Afghanistan have put up a chasing masterclass. It was Pakistan a few days ago, and Sri Lanka today. In both chases combined, they just lost 5 wickets and scored 528 runs in total. Gee, isn't that impressive? Rashid Khan (playing his 100th ODI) is chuffed to bits as he joins his mates in the rally along the circumference. The Afghan players are thanking the crowd and are getting plenty of support from the fans present at the stadium. On a good batting deck, 241 was never going to be enough and although Sri Lanka nipped out Gurbaz in the opening over, the others weren't ready to budge. Only Ibrahim Zadran missed out on a fifty, but the trio of Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah and Shahidi compiled fifties to complete the chase with barely any hiccups. Sri Lankan bowling was good in patches, but unfortunately they didn't have enough runs to play with the required rate pressure. Stick around for the post-match reactions...

HS: Almost knocked Sri Lanka out of the Asia Cup and now definitely on 5th spot after this game. Afghanistan cricket on the rise.

Chameera to Azmatullah, 1 run, that's it. Asalanka drops a sitter at deep square and that will do for Afghanistan. It was slogged high into the night sky and went straight towards the fielder in the deep, Asalanka ran forward but couldn't gather it cleanly. Afghanistan win by 7 wickets and move to 5th slot. This is their 3rd win in 4 games

Chameera to Shahidi, 1 run, full outside off, Shahidi drives neatly to the right of sweeper cover

Rajitha to Shahidi, 1 run, good length just outside off, Shahidi punches it to deep cover and completes 2000 runs in ODI cricket

Rajitha to Azmatullah, 1 run, another short ball and this one has been pulled away to the right of mid-on for a quick single

Rajitha to Azmatullah, FOUR, short ball asking to be smacked outside off, Azmatullah says thank you and belts the pull over mid-wicket with plenty of bottom hand power

Rajitha to Shahidi, 1 run, length delivery just outside off, Shahidi drags the pull off the inside half to deep square

Rajitha to Azmatullah, 1 run, back of a length outside off, Azmatullah forces it off the back foot to sweeper cover

Rajitha to Azmatullah, no run, short of length just outside off, Azmatullah stays leg-side of the delivery and punches to backward point

Afghanistan 2 hits away...

Chameera to Shahidi, no run, 137ks good length just outside off, punched back to the bowler

Chameera to Shahidi, no run, 136ks full outside off, Shahidi flicks and gets it off the cue end to mid-wicket

Chameera to Azmatullah, 1 run, skiddy length delivery on middle and leg, worked away to the right of deep mid-wicket

Chameera to Azmatullah, FOUR, one bounce and over the ropes! Dug in short on the stumps, Azmatullah gets rushed by the pace but manages to get decent contact on the pull over mid-wicket. The pace of Dushmantha Chameera takes care of the rest...

Chameera to Azmatullah, no run, 134ks length delivery on the stumps, Azmatullah looks to slog leg-side and gets a thick inside edge onto pad