ODI World Cup 2023: 30th ODI between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka: Who Said What?

Afghanistan managed to survive the 2018 ODI World Cup after defeating Sri Lanka by seven wickets.

The Lankan Lions did a good job at first when they batted first, but their strike rate has been a big problem from the beginning. As a result, pressure mounted on them when they lost a few wickets, and finally the batting unit broke. Maheesh Theekshana played brilliantly towards the end, scoring 29 runs to assist Sri Lanka reach 241 runs, an achievement that briefly seemed unachievable.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dismissed cheaply by Afghanistan during the chase, but other players rose up. After Rahmat Shah was removed from the game, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatuallah Omarzai combined for a partnership of more than 100 runs to win the team. Rahmat Shah had scored fifty runs. As a result, Afghanistan has six points in the ODI World Cup, putting Sri Lanka in a difficult situation.

Azmatullah Omarzai’s overall excellence

Azmatullah Omarzai, an all-rounder, bowled exceptionally effectively and then scored a half-century to assist his team cross the finish line. He played some incredible cricket. Since he has been doing well for a while, the performance should give him more confidence moving forward.

Four-plus for Farooqi Fazalhaqi

Brilliant with both new and old balls was Fazalhaq Farooqi. He struck the deck early on, which enabled Afghanistan to dismiss Sri Lanka for 241 runs. Farooqi took four wickets and surrendered 34 runs in his ten overs of bowling.

In support of Afghanistan, batters

Afghanistan chased the total in 45.2 overs thanks to half-centuries each from Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Azmatuallah Omarzai. They now stand sixth in the standings and will be hoping to advance to the semifinals.

Losing skipper Kusal Mendis said:

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 onto the bat nicely in the second innings. He (Madhushanka) has done really well, in the first couple of games as well and hope he will continue his form going forward.

Winning skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said:

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 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.

POTM Fazalhaq Farooqi said:

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 (translated by Rashid Khan).