Zadran, bowlers earn Afghanistan comfortable win over Sri Lanka

Afghanistan drifted to a six-wicket win in the first of three ODIs against Sri Lanka in Hambantota. The guests, pursuing 269, were given a flying beginning by Ibrahim Zadran, whose century stand with anchor Rahmat Shah laid the stage for the center request to walk around the line, getting to the objective with six wickets and 25 balls in excess.

Prior, Afghanistan had won the throw and picked to bowl first against Sri Lanka. Fazalhaq Farooqi got early wickets of Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis to impair the hosts early, and Fareed Ahmed before long disposed of the accomplished Angelo Matthews to slow down Sri Lanka significantly. Pathum Nissaka, who had gritted his direction through this, ultimately fell and Sri Lanka were reeling at 84-4.

It was then that Dhanajaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka pulled off a salvage act, sewing together a stand of 99 runs and in this way putting Sri Lanka on the way to a more good aggregate. Lower request commitments from Shanaka and Hemantha added significant runs, with Asalanka waiting until the last over as Sri Lanka figured out how to play out 50 overs notwithstanding losing each of the ten wickets. The Afghan bowlers displayed a total execution, with the quick bowlers encashing the new ball, and the spinners becoming possibly the most important factor with the more seasoned ball.

The run-pursue got going ineffectively for Afghanistan, who lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz for only 14, pushed over by Lahiru Kumara. In any case, Ibrahim Zadran drove a counterattack with Rahmat Shah in a supporting job, putting on 146 runs in 148 balls, saving nobody, and putting Afghanistan on course for a fruitful run-pursue. Matheesha Pathirana, who might ultimately dispose of Zadran for a merited 98 to procure himself his most memorable ODI wicket, went for a 17-run over right off the bat and got some serious stick on his ODI debut, going at 7.5 runs per over.

Rahmat Shah withdrew not long after for a dirty fifty, yet reasonable commitments from Mohammad Nabi and Hashmatullah Shahidi guaranteed that Afghanistan walked around the line serenely, and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second ODI is set to be played on Sunday (June 4) and the third ODI on Wednesday (June 7), both at Hambantota.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 268 all-outin 50 overs (Charith Asalanka 91, Dhananjaya de Silva 51, Fareed Ahmed 2-43)lost to Afghanistan(Ibrahim Zadran 98, Rahmat Shah 55, Kasun Rajitha 2-49) by 6 wickets