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Spineless Sri Lanka crash out of Asia Cup

By Our Correspondent
September 19, 2018

ABU DHABI: It was a dark day for Sri Lankan cricket on Monday when the former champions were knocked out of the Asia Cup at the very first hurdle.

Following their embarrassing defeat against Bangladesh in the opening game of the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka were facing a must-win situation against Afghanistan but failed to click when it mattered most.

The Sri Lankans were thrashed by the spirited Afghans by 91 runs in Abu Dhabi and crashed out of the six-nation regional extravaganza.But their humiliating first-round exit shouldn’t be seen as a big surprise.

Sri Lankan cricket has largely been struck in a downward spiral in recent times following the exit of several match-winning greats like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillikaratne Dilshan following World Cup 2015 where the Islanders reached the final. Compounding their problems is the fact that even their current stars like Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharanga and Thisara Perera are either in the twilight years of their international careers or are getting close to entering that phase.

And all of that has shown in their recent performances in the lead up to the Asia Cup. They were thrashed 5-0 by Pakistan and even lost an ODI series at home against minnows Zimbabwe. Since the start of 2016, Sri Lanka have played 60 ODIs where they have won 16, lost 39, four have produced no results with one game being tied. During that period, they have a win percentage of just 27, which is the lowest among the ODI-playing nations.

While it has all been downhill for the Sri Lankans in recent times, the Afghans have been on a rise.They surprised everyone by qualifying for the World T20 in 2016, leaving behind a Test team like Zimbabwe. In the main tournament, Afghanistan was the only team to defeat West Indies - the winners of that event. Recently, they trounced Ireland in Ireland.

On Monday night, Afghanistan continued their rise in international cricket with an upset 91-run win over Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka needed to win the Group B match to stay in the tournament but were outwitted by smart batting from Afghanistan, who put up a fighting total of 249 all out at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The fighters then laid into Sri Lankan batting with spinner Rashid Khan (2-26), Mohammad Nabi (2-30) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-32) sharing wickets as the five-time former winners were bowled out for 158 in 41.2 overs.

Sri Lanka did not help their cause with two run outs while skipper Angelo Mathews played a reckless shot off Nabi and was caught near the boundary for 22.Sri Lankan’s batters failed miserably with only Upul Tharanga (36) and Thisara Perera (28) offering some fight.

Afghanistan were helped to 249 all out in their 50 overs with Rahmat Shah scoring 72 and Ihsanullah Janat chipping in with 45.Shah struck five boundaries during his 90-ball knock and added 50 for the second wicket with Janat (45) after Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat on a flat pitch.

Sri Lanka’s seamer Thisara Perera took five for 55 while spinner Akila Dananjaya finished with two for 39. —with inputs from agencies

Afghanistan won toss

Afghanistan

†Mohammad Shahzad lbw b Dananjaya 34

Ihsanullah Janat lbw b Dananjaya 45

Rahmat Shah c T Perera b Chameera 72

*Asghar Afghan lbw b Jayasuriya 1

Hashmatullah Shahidi b T Perera 37

Mohammad Nabi c T Perera b Malinga 15

Najibullah Zadran b T Perera 12

Gulbadin Naib c Dananjaya b T Perera 4

Rashid Khan b T Perera 13

Aftab Alam not out 7

Mujeeb Ur Rahman b T Perera 0

Extras (lb2, w7) 9

Total (all out, 50 overs) 249

Fall: 1-57, 2-107, 3-110, 4-190, 5-203, 6-222, 7-227, 8-249, 9-249

Bowling: Malinga 10-0-66-1 (3w), Chameera 10-2-43-1 (1w), T Perera 9-0-55-5, Dananjaya 10-0-39-2 (3w), D de Silva 5-0-22-0, Jayasuriya 6-0-22-1

Sri Lanka

K Mendis lbw b Mujeeb 0

U Tharanga c Asghar b Naib 36

D de Silva run out 23

†K Perera b Rashid 17

*A Mathews c Rashid b Nabi 22

S Jayasuriya run out 14

T Perera b Naib 28

D Shanaka b Mujeeb 0

A Dananjaya b Nabi 2

L Malinga lbw b Rashid 1

D Chameera not out 2

Extras (b2, lb5, w6) 13

Total (all out, 41.2 overs) 158

Fall: 1-0, 2-54, 3-86, 4-88, 5-108, 6-143, 7-144, 8-153, 9-156

Bowling: Mujeeb 9-1-32-2 (1w), Alam 7-0-34-0, Naib 8-0-29-2, Nabi 10-1-30-2 (5w), Rashid 7.2-0-26-2

Result: Afghanistan won by 91 runs

Man of the Match: Rahmat Shah (Afghanistan)

Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite (West Indies) and Ahsan Raza (Pakistan). TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa). Match referee: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe)