Azmatullah, Rahmat and Hashmatullah scored half-centuries, Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.

In the 30th match of the ICC World Cup 2023, Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets with the help of half-centuries from Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi. Afghanistan’s bowlers also performed brilliantly. This is the third biggest upset by Afghanistan in this World Cup. Earlier they had defeated England and Pakistan.

Batting first, the Sri Lankan team collapsed on the score of 241 in 49.3 overs. For Sri Lanka, Pathum Nissanka played an inning of 46 runs in 60 balls with the help of 5 fours. Apart from them, captain Kusal Mendis scored 39(50), Sadira Samarawickrama scored 36(40), Mahish Tikshina scored 29(31) and Angelo Mathews scored 23(26). Mendis and Nissanka added 62 (77) runs. Mendis and Samarawickrama made a partnership of 50 (57). Fazalhaq Farooqui took the maximum 4 wickets for Afghanistan. Mujeeb ur Rahman was successful in taking 2 wickets. Azmatullah Umarzai and Rashid Khan were successful in taking one wicket each.

Chasing the target, Afghanistan team won the match by scoring 242 runs losing 3 wickets in 45.2 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai scored the most runs for Afghanistan. He played a half-century inning of 73* runs in 63 balls with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes. Rahmat Shah played a half-century of 62 runs in 74 balls with the help of 7 fours. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi played a half-century of 58* runs in 74 balls with the help of 2 fours and a six.

Ibrahim Zadran faced 57 balls and played an innings of 39 runs with the help of 4 fours and one six. Zadran and Rahmat made a partnership of 73 (97). Hashmatullah and Rahmat made a partnership of 58 (67) runs. Umarzai and Hashmatullah made a partnership of 111* (104). For Sri Lanka, Dilshan Madushanka took 2 wickets and Kasun Rajitha took one wicket.

Afghanistan’s playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqui.

Sri Lanka’s playing eleven: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (captain and wicketkeeper), Sadira Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjay de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Mahish Tikshina, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka.