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Hasaranga and Pathirana bring a thriller home for Sri Lanka
In front of a sold out crowd in Dambulla, Sri Lanka edged a rollercoaster first T20I against Afghanistan, winning by four runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Binura Fernando who had been taken for 38 runs in three overs up until then – came up trump in the end, defending 11 runs in the final over. At the other end was Ibrahim Zadran having batted through the innings – unbeaten on a 55-ball 67, but having fallen agonisingly short.
But it was Matheesha Pathirana who turned the game in the hosts favour, bowling an exceptional penultimate over where he grabbed two wickets for just three runs, as he ended with figures of 4 for 24.
Sri Lanka had earlier been put into bat, and had been bowled out for 160 – much of which was down to Wanidu Hasaranga’s outstanding counter-punch innings of 67 off 32. Afghanistan though had picked up a cluster of wickets either side of Hasaranga’s knock to keep Sri Lanka to a par total.
For much of Afghanistan’s chase the game had looked in hand, particularly with Ibrahim at the crease, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers led by Pathirana did well to grab wickets at crucial junctures and nip in at the death.
Action packed powerplay
All the talk across the ODIs had been the nature of the wickets, with the batting friendly tracks delivered in Pallekele widely lauded. The question then was, would Dambulla – hosting its first men’s international in five years – follow suit? Well, while Afghanistan opted to bowl, choosing to first see how the wicket played before taking a crack, Sri Lanka were tasked with gauging it on the fly.
The question didn’t take long to answer as Sri Lanka got off to a flyer, crashing a healthy 51 runs in the powerplay. The only hitch was they lost three wickets in the process, as Afghanistan had expertly preyed on Sri Lanka’s newfound aggression. Pathum Nissanka edged through flaying at a wide one, Kusal Mendis got a leading edge on an attempted scoop down to third man and Dhananjaya de Silva pulled one straight to deep square leg.
Three became four shortly after when Asalanka sought to pull a long hop down leg, but only managed to feather an edge to the keeper. Midway through the eighth over Sri Lanka were suddenly 55 for 4.
Wow-nindu’s floating counter
With Sri Lanka at very real risk of throwing away a promising start, skipper Hasaranga took it upon himself to promote himself up the order ahead of both Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka.
The role of Hasaranga as a floating pinch-hitter had first been explored in last year’s LPL with devastating results, but the question now was could he translate it to the international stage? An injury prior to last year’s World Cup meant the answer to that had to wait a little a longer, but here he was finally able to showcase his batting chops.
In a blitzkrieg knock, Hasaranga ransacked 67 off just 32 deliveries. His partnership with Sadeera Samarawickrama worth 72 came off 40 balls, with the latter accounting for just 18 of those. By the time Hasaranga was dismissed in the 16th over, he had taken Sri Lanka to 146 for 6.
Afghanistan strike back and start fast
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-Ul-Haq and Karim Janat, each with their variations in pace and length proved too good for the Lankan lower order and tail to get away.
Despite both Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka around to launch at the death, Afghanistan made sure that Sri Lanka didn’t even complete their 20 overs in the end. The final four wickets added just 14 runs – Mathews and Shanaka accounting for 12 of those – as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 160.
Then with the bat they began with a bang. The trick often to completing middling chases is in making use of the power-play, and in this respect Afghanistan followed the script to a tee. Aside from the first over, the remaining five in the power-play saw at least one boundary scored.
With Ibrahim taking the lead they eventually razed 57 runs in the opening six overs for the loss of just one wicket.
Sri Lanka chip away
Hasaranga had spoken before the game about Sri Lanka’s impressive bowling stocks and here he utilised them to their fullest extent. Having initially brought himself on inside the power-play – an uncharacteristic move but one warranted owing to Afghanistan’s fast start – he struck in his second over, sneaking a googly through Gulbadin Naib’s leg side hack.
Pathirana’s introduction in the next over saw another fall, before Dasun Shanaka and his clever variations in pace grabbed two in the space of three balls two overs later. Just like that Afghanistan were 86 for 5
Pathirana comes through clutch
But in keeping with the theme of the game, the drama wasn’t done yet. Ibrahim and Karim Janat’s stand of 39 off 28 took the game down to the wire, and with 36 need from 24 with five wickets in hand, the game was conceivably Afghanistan’s to lose.
Pathirana however had other ideas. Janat had no answer to a searing length ball that kept lower than expected owing to Pathirana’s slingy action, and trapped him in front. The 21 year-old saved the best for last though, producing two exceptionally quick fuller ones two overs later to get rid of Noor Ahmad and Naveen-Ul-Haq, as Afghanistan were reduced to 150 for 9 heading into the final over.
There, Binura redeemed himself with a series of well directed wide yorkers that Ibrahim was unable to get away, as Sri Lanka secured a nervy victory.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 160 in 19 overs (Kusal Mendis 10, Dhananjaya de Silva 24, Sadeera Samarawickrama 25, Wanidu Hasaranga 67; Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-25, Naveen-ul-Haq 2- 25, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-30, Noor Ahmad 1-18, Karim Janat 1-23 ) beat Afghanistan 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 67*, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 13, Gulbadin Naib 16, Karim Janat 20; Angelo Mathews 1-16, Maheesh Theekshana 1-31, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-20, Matheesha Pathirana 4-24, Dasun Shanaka 2-17) by four runs
(Cricinfo)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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