Kolkata: Afghanistan posed a spirited challenge before the seasoned Tillakaratne Dilshan guided Sri Lanka to a six-wicket win in their opening match of the ICC World T20 here today.
Dilshan (83 not out off 56 balls) steered Sri Lanka to victory in 18.5 overs after Afghanistan put up a competitive 153 for seven, courtesy a captain’s knock from Asghar Stanikzai (62).
It was a morale boosting win for Lankans who suffered three consecutive losses in the Asia Cup and lost two warm-up games in the lead up to their tournament opener today.
The Afghans fought till the end but the Associate Nation’s inexperience let them down. Dilshan led a successful chase and was in his elements very early into his innings, producing his signature ‘Dilscoop’ against Dawlat Zardan in the third over when he hit the Afghan bowler for consecutive sixes. With Dinesh Chandimal (18 from 17 balls; 2×4, 1×6), the Sri Lankan opening duo gave them a brisk start, racing to 41 from 32 balls before before Mohammed Nabi gave the first breakthrough.
Young legspinner Rashid Khan did well in the middle but Dilshan held his nerve at the other end. Earlier, Stanikzai led from the front with a half century as Afghanistan overcame a slow start to post a challenging total. The Lankans stifled Afghanistan top-order by reducing them to 51/4 after 11 overs before Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari (31 off 23) built the innings.(PTI)
score board
Afghanistan innings
Mohammad Shahzad† c Chameera b Mathews 08
Noor Ali Zadran b Herath 20
Asghar Stanikzai* c †Chandimal b Perera 62
Karim Sadiq c †Chandimal b Perera 00
Mohammad Nabi lbw b Herath 03
Samiullah Shenwari c Perera b Kulasekara 31
Shafiqullah c Thirimanne b Perera 05
Dawlat Zadran not out 05
Najibullah Zadran not out 12
Extras 07
Total 153/7
Sri Lanka innings
LD Chandimal† c S.Shenwari b Mohammad Nabi 18
TM Dilshan not out 83
HDRL Thirimanne b Rashid Khan 06
NLTC Perera run out (†Mohammad Shahzad) 12
CK Kapugedera run out (Mohammad Nabi) 10
AD Mathews* not out 21
Extras 05 Total 155/4