Dilshan fires SL to win against gutsy Afghanistan

KOLKATA: A calmly compiled 56-ball 83 from Tillakaratne Dilshan steered Sri Lanka to a heart-rate-steadying six-wicket win against qualifiers Afghanistan in their first Super 10 Group One match of the World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Thursday.

But it was not before Afghanistan reminded them and the rest of Group One that they belonged in the Super 10s.

Defending 153, it was only Afghanistan’s fielding that proved to be of less-than-elite standard, with three fairly basic errors in the deep giving Sri Lanka valuable breathing room in their chase.

In the 14th over, Karim Sadiq failed to get his body behind a regulation stop at deep midwicket. Then, in the 16th, Dawlat Zadran made the same mistake, while getting down on one knee to stop a Dilshan sweep at deep backward square leg.

The third misfield came from the substitute fielder Gulbadin Naib, who dived to his left at third man to stop an open-faced dab from Angelo Mathews in the 18th over, got a meaty hand to the ball, and only ended up pushing it past the rope. Sri Lanka should only have got three runs from those three balls; they ended up getting 12.

The misfields released a lot of the pressure the bowlers, particularly the spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, had applied to help Afghanistan claw their way back into the contest after a bright start from Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal.

Dilshan and Chandimal (18) provided Sri Lanka with a steady start but Chandimal fell to Nabi with Sri Lanka on 41.

Thirimanne was bowled by Rashid for 6. Dilshan then displayed his class with some fine shots.

He hit eight fours and three sixes.

Earlier, Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai hit a career-best 62 to help the qualifiers post 153 for seven.

Stanikzai won the toss and opted to bat first on a slow wicket at Eden Gardens but his team struggled to get going before accelerating towards the end of their innings.

The Afghan captain hit four sixes and three fours in his 47-ball knock before falling in the penultimate over.

Samiullah Shenwari (31) chipped in with a 14-ball cameo while Thisara Perera (3-33) was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Score Board

Afghanistan won toss

Afghanistan

†M Shahzad c Chameera b Mathews         8

Noor Ali Zadran b Herath     20

*Asghar Stanikzai c Chandimal b Perera     62

Karim Sadiq c Chandimal b Perera   0

M Nabi lbw b Herath  3

Samiullah Shenwari c Perera b Kulasekara 31

Shafiqullah c Thirimanne b Perera   5

Dawlat Zadran not out         5

Najibullah Zadran not out     12

Extras (lb 1, w 6)     7

Total (7 wickets; 20 overs)  153

Did not bat: Rashid Khan, Hamid Hassan

Fall: 1-12, 2-44, 3-46, 4-51, 5-112, 6-132, 7-136

Bowling: Mathews 3-0-17-1 (2w); Kulasekara 4-0-43-1 (1w); Chameera 4-0-19-0 (2w); Herath 4-0-24-2 (1w); Perera 4-0-33-3; Siriwardana 1-0-16-0

Sri Lanka

†L D Chandimal c Samiullah b Nabi  18

T M Dilshan not out   83

H D R L Thirimanne b Rashid 6

N L T C Perera run out        12

C K Kapugedera run out      10

*A D Mathews not out         21

Extras (b 4, w 1)      5

Total (4 wickets; 18.5 overs)         155

Did not bat: T A M Siriwardana, D S N F G Jayasuriya, K M D N Kulasekara, P V D Chameera, H M R K B Herath

Fall: 1-41, 2-58, 3-85, 4-113

Bowling: Karim 2-0-21-0; Hamid 3.5-0-38-0; Dawlat 3-0-31-0 (1w); Nabi 4-1-25-1; Rashid 4-0        27-1; Samiullah 2-0-9-0

Result: Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets

Umpires: B N J Oxenford (Australia) and J S Wilson (West Indies). TV umpire: R A Kettleborough (England). Match referee: B C Broad (England)