Charith Asalanka’s showy thump (97* off 74) and Wanindu Hasaranga’s blistering spell (4-27) were the significant features as Sri Lanka pounded Afghanistan by 155 runs in the second ODI at Pallekele on Sunday (February 11). The outcome implied that Sri Lanka have fixed the series with a game in excess. Sri Lanka likewise had three other half-centurions in their innings – Kusal Mendis (61 off 65), Sadeera Samarawickrama (52 off 61) and Janith Liyanage (50 off 48) – as they created areas of strength for a work. Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran’s fifties did give Afghanistan a chance to win the game, but the innings fell apart once the partnership was broken.
Sri Lanka put on another solid batting performance earlier in the afternoon, albeit not as explosive as their performance in the previous match. The surface too appeared to ever be a somewhat drier deck, implying that it would not have been all hammer bang. The disciplined bowling of Afghanistan was rewarded early on with the wickets of the Sri Lankan openers within the first ten overs. Mendis and Samarawickrama, on the other hand, put the innings back on track with a century stand. A portion of the strokemaking in the organization was of the greatest request however when the team took steps to hit top stuff, the two players fell with hardly a pause in between.
Afghanistan detected a potential chance to slice through Sri Lanka’s batting request yet Asalanka and Liyanage had different thoughts. Through some calculative batting and shrewd shot-choice, they kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 111 at better than run-a-ball. Liyanage assumed a supporting role as Asalanka went through the pinion wheels to often track down the wall. Indeed, even after the previous’ excusal, Hasaranga contributed with an appearance in spite of the fact that it was Asalanka who did the hard work at the back end. The left-hander missed the mark concerning a meriting ton however guaranteed that the hosts had posted a serious aggregate.
In answer, Afghanistan did well to not lose a bunch of wickets forthright. Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell right on time after a scratchy stay at the wrinkle however Zadran and Shah batted emphatically to fasten a century stand. The speed of scoring wasn’t electric however their expectation to take the game profound was reasonable, given the scorching breakdown by the top request in the last game. Their half-hundreds of years consistently gave the stage for the guests however both fell when they expected to step on a stuff to keep the pursuit alive. Asitha Fernando disposed of Zadran while Hasaranga then, at that point, misdirected Shah to open up the Afghanistan batting request.
Such was the intense idea of the breakdown that Afghanistan’s innings endured only 45 conveyances after the second-wicket stand was broken. Hasaranga cut through the center request while Asitha and Dilshan Madushanka got two wickets each. What vowed to be a nearer run pursue than the initial game turned out to be an undeniably more uneven challenge eventually.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 309/6 out of 50 overs (Charith Asalanka 97*, Kusal Mendis 61, Sadeera Samarawickrama 52; Azmatullah Omarzai 3-56) beat Afghanistan 153 in 33.5 overs (Rahmat Shah 63, Ibrahim Zadran 54; by 155 runs (Wanindu Hasaranga 4-27).
