World Cup: Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka to enter top five
What's the story
Afghanistan continue their magnificent run in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup after beating Sri Lanka in Pune.
The Afghans successfully chased down 242, with Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Azmatullah Omarzai playing impactful knocks.
Earlier, Fazalhaq Farooqi's four-wicket haul helped Afghanistan restrict SL to 241.
Afghanistan have now entered the top five and are ahead of SL, Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh, and England.
Match
A look at the match's summary
SL had a steady start after Afghanistan elected to field. They recorded their lowest first-powerplay total in WC 2023 (41/1).
SL were down to 185/7 after their top five couldn't capitalize. Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana then took SL to 241. Farooqi took a four-fer.
Although Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) early, Ibrahim Zadran (39), Rahmat (62), Shahidi, and Omarzai took them to victory.
Rahmat
Rahmat slams his second consecutive fifty
Afghanistan lost opener Gurbaz on the fourth delivery of the run-chase. This exposed Rahmat Shah in the middle.
He shared a 73-run stand with Zadran before taking Afghanistan past 130 with skipper Shahidi.
Rahmat smashed a fluent 62 off 74 balls, a knock laced with 7 fours. This was his second consecutive fifty in the ongoing tournament.
Farooqi
Farooqi takes four crucial wickets
Farooqi was the pick of Afghanistan's bowlers in the match. He took four wickets for 34 runs in 10 overs, including a maiden.
Farooqi dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne at the start before removing Charith Asalanka, who was beginning to settle down.
The Afghan seamer came back to dismiss both Theekshana and Mathews in back-to-back overs at the death.
Figures
His best WC bowling figures
Farooqi's 4/34 are now his best bowling figures in the World Cup. He now has six wickets from five World Cup matches at 32.00.
Farooqi, who made his debut last year, has raced to 38 wickets from 26 ODIs at an average of 28.21. The tally includes three four-wicket hauls.
As many as 21 of his ODI wickets have come this year.
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Best WC figures by an Afghanistan pacer
Farooqi now has the best bowling figures by an Afghanistan pacer in ODI World Cups. Overall, he is only behind Mohammad Nabi (4/30 vs SL, Cardiff, 2019). Farooqi went past Shapoor Zadran, who took 4/38 against Scotland, Dunedin, 2015.
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10 ODI wickets against Sri Lanka
Farooqi now has 10 wickets from eight ODIs against Sri Lanka. Notably, SL are only the second side against whom Farooqi has 10 or more wickets in the format. He owns 15 ODI wickets against Bangladesh at 19.33.
Nissanka
Nissanka misses his fifth consecutive WC fifty
Nissanka, SL's top scorer, looked solid in his 60-ball 46. His knock included 5 fours.
The right-handed batter missed his fifth consecutive World Cup half-century by four runs.
As per Bharath Seervi, Steven Smith (2015) and Virat Kohli (2019) are the only batters with five successive 50+ scores in World Cup history.
Nissanka's last five scores: 46, 77*, 54, 61, and 51.
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Rashid Khan features in his 100th ODI for Afghanistan
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan took a solitary wicket for 50 runs in 10 overs. He became the fourth player to feature in 100 ODIs for Afghanistan. Mohammad Nabi (153), Asghar Afghan (114), and Rahmat Shah (103) are the others.
Shahidi
Shahidi leads Afghanistan from the front
Shahidi, who has been among the runs, once again led Afghanistan from the front.
The Afghan skipper joined Rahmat in the middle after the side reduced to 73/2. Shahidi and Rahmat added 48 runs together.
Shahidi smashed an unbeaten 58 off 74 balls (2 fours and 1 six).
This was his second 50+ score of the ongoing World Cup.
Omarzai
Omarzai's third fifty of World Cup 2023
Omarzai, who has been bolstering Afghanistan's middle order of late, did the talking with his blade.
He didn't let the side collapse after they lost Rahmat for 131 runs.
Omarzai negotiated the Lankan bowlers and took Afghanistan to win along with Shahidi.
The former slammed a 63-ball 73* (6 fours and 3 sixes). He smashed his third fifty in World Cup 2023.
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Omarzai attains this feat
Omarzai's 73* is now the highest individual score for Afghanistan at number five or below in ODI World Cups. He surpassed his own 62 that came against India in Delhi in the ongoing tournament.
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Highest unbeaten stand for Afghanistan in WCs (any wicket)
Omarzai and Shahidi shared a 111*-run stand, the highest unbeaten partnership for Afghanistan in ODI World Cups (any wicket). Overall, this is the fifth-highest stand for Afghanistan in the tournament. Notably, Omarzai has been involved in another such partnership.