Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights, ICC World Cup match in Pune: AFG beat SL by seven wickets for third win

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Summary: Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their 2023 Cricket World Cup clash in Pune on Sunday.

After having elected to field, Afghanistan dismissed Sri Lanka for 241 after Fazalhaq Farooqi picked four wickets. Pathum Nissanka was the Lankans’ top-scorer with 46 runs, whereas Kusal Mendis (39) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (36) also contributed.

In reply, fifties from Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan chase down 242 with 28 balls to spare.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka preview: Both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will be fighting to keep their hopes of reaching the 2023 ICC World Cup semi-finals alive when they square off in Pune on Monday.

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Both Afghanistan and 1996 world champions Sri Lanka enter the upcoming contest on the back of clinical eight-wicket victories.

While the Afghans chased down a target of 283 against Pakistan in Chennai, Sri Lanka bundled defending champions England out for a modest 156 and recovered from a shaky start and cruised home with nearly half of their overs to spare.

Both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan sit on four points each after winning two and losing three in their five outings so far, with the Lankans sitting just below the semi-final spots at fifth thanks to their superior Net Run Rate (-0.205). Inferior NRR is also the reason why Afghanistan sit one place below Pakistan, though the latter have played one match extra.

The upcoming contest is only the second of the World Cup taking place at Pune’s MCA Stadium. India had earlier defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in a chase of 257 on 19 October.

Teams:

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka