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We now conclude our coverage of the 1st ODI between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. This was an immensely entertaining, high-scoring contest - thanks to an incredible batting effort from Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan went a long way, but Pathum Nissanka's double hundred remains the prominent takeaway from the game. Both sides meet right here at Pallekele on Sunday for the 2nd ODI - join us right here on Sportskeeda for our coverage of the same, and keep following us for a whole lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty. Good night!
Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka captain): He feels the bowling was good at the start. His initial thinking was scoring 330 and they were very happy to get 380. (Mendis spoke in his local language)
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain): The decision was due to the dew factor. We were thinking that there would be dew in the second innings. The pitch was a good one to bat in the second innings as well. We gave away a lot of runs. The powerplay overs we were not upto the mark and gave the game to Sri Lanka. We tried to claw our way back but they kept on punishing us. We had hope when Azmat and Nabi was playing. With fifteen overs left, we had the belief but it was too much in the end.
Pathum Nissanka is the Player of the Match, here is what he has to say: He seems very happy and never knew about Jayasuriya's record. Just wanted to capitalise on anything loose. (he spoke in his local language).
Sri Lanka won by 41 runs
Pathum Nissanka 210*(139) | Pramod Madushan 4/75(10) Azmatullah Omarzai 149*(115) | Fareed Ahmad Malik 2/79(10)
Take nothing away from the efforts of Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai - the duo met each other in the middle with an over and a half left to the powerplay, looked to counter-punch briefly, navigated through the middle overs, and put their best effort in trying to up the ante as the slog overs approached. The required rate was always going to be an issue with the Lankans piling as tall a total as they did. One can't help but wonder what the case would have been had Afghanistan kept the hosts to under 350.
While Dilshan Madushanka erred in length once too often in the powerplay, Pramod Madushan turned out to be a raging threat with the new ball - getting the white Kookaburra to deck and swing as per his wishes. Madushan was instrumental in wrecking the Afghanistan top-order all by himself, nipping out the trio of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi in back-to-back overs. The Afghans, having lost three of their more reliable ODI batters, were in a fix already.
Dushmantha Chameera came into the attack and added to Afghanistan's problems with his pace and bounce. Afganistan lost half their side within the powerplay - the ploy of counter-attacking was on from then on as Omarzai and Nabi looked to salvage the situation for Afghanistan. The scoring rate improved as Afghanistan closed in on a 100 with plenty of time to the 20th over, but once Mendis introduced both his spinners, the runs were kept to a check as Nabi and Omarzai gladly rotated strike.
Those middle overs might have shoved Afghanistan out of the game as Nabi and Omarzai looked to take the game as deep as possible. The onslaught did come along as both batters crossed their respective 100s, but the required rate was well past 15 by then. The fact that both of them were struggling with cramps did not help Afghanistan's case one bit - even as Nabi departed, Omarzai kept at it, batting till the last over. In the end, Afghanistan were left with too much to do, and fell well short.
50
overs
339/6score
2lb
0
1
0
6
1
runs
Azmatullah Omarzai*
148(114)
Ikram Alikhil
11(15)
Pramod Madushan
4/75
49.6 Pramod Madushan to Azmatullah Omarzai, drills this length delivery around middle, down towards the long-on region and takes a single. Sri Lanka wins by 42 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three match series.
49.5 Pramod Madushan to Azmatullah Omarzai, SIX! What a shot from Omarzai, a pace-off length delivery outside off, Omarzai holds his shape and tonks it down the ground, comfortably clears the long-off fence. What a knock this has been from Azmatullah Omarzai.
49.4 Pramod Madushan to Azmatullah Omarzai, really good from Madushan, digs out the yorker around the middle stump, towards the cover-point region.
49.3 Pramod Madushan to Ikram Alikhil, a pace-off fuller-length delivery around the middle stump, worked away down the ground, towards the long-on region and takes a single.
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Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Azmatullah Omarzai
*
Pramod Madushan
Video
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