Afghanistan Cricket Team has put forward a splendid show versus Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2022 opener, which took place on August 27th, Saturday. Their bowling line did wonders, grabbing early three wickets just for five runs and then managing to give further blows to the hosts. Sri Lanka could score 105 on 118 balls and lost all their men.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, undoubtedly, was the best bowler in the team, who not only stopped the flow of runs but also grabbed a three-wicket haul. He helped to tremble SL's top-order, removing Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka, respectively. The third wicket fell when Naveen ul Haq targetted opener Pathum Nissanka.
All the bowlers turned out to be deadly, including Rashid Khan, who could not pick a scalp but yielded only 12 runs from four overs. Mohammad Nabi was another best, who had a two-wicket haul and conceded only 14 runs dispatching all his overs. Mujeeb ur Rehman, at an economy of six, managed two wickets.
Nabi and co showcased excellent in batting depart either. In a run chase of 106, they spared 9.5 overs, smashing boundaries everywhere in the ground to reach the feat at the half-mark. Sri Lankan batters were not the only ones to suffer, but bowlers equally did.
Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave a solid start with their terrific openings, contributing 37 off 28 and 40 off 18 balls, respectively and almost finished it for Afghanistan together - only Two Zardans' 17 runs were missing, that completed the game after Zazai-Gurbaz partnership broke.
Their terrific win over Sri Lanka is a trigger warning to other teams not to take them lightly throughout the Asia Cup 2022. They will next meet Bangladesh on August 30th, Tuesday, battling to fix their spot in the Super 4 round.
Also, see:
Asia Cup 2022: BCCI talks about Shaheen Shah's absence
