Rahmanullah Gurbaz blistering knock of 84 went in vain as Afghanistan went down by 4 wickets against Sri Lanka in yesterday’s Asia Cup Super 4 encounter in Sharjah.
After being asked to bat first by Sri lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka, openers Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz got Afghanistan off to a solid start. The duo added 46 runs for the opening stand before the former was cleaned up by Madushanka for 12.
The pair of Rahmanullah along with Ibrahim Zadran featured in a 93 run stand for the second wicket before the former top edged a heave off Asitha Fernando to De Silva at deep midwicket for an entertaining 84. His knock came off 45 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes.
Afghanistan lost four wickets for 36 as the Sri Lankan bowlers fought back towards the end to restrict them to 175/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Dilshan Madushanka was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/36.
Chasing 176, openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis got Sri Lanka off to a quickfire start. The pair added 62 runs for the opening wicket before the latter perished to Naveen-ul-Haq for a 19 ball-36.
Nissanka looked good in his innings of 35, before being caught behind off Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Mohammad Nabi then struck a crucial blow by dismissing Charith Asalanka (8) bowled as he inside-edged a slog sweep onto his stumps leaving their side in a spot of bother at 94/3.
Mujeeb claimed his second wicket by sending back Dasun Shanaka to a fine catch in the boundary line by Najibullah Zadran for 10.
Danushka Gunathilaka scored a fine 33 before being bowled by Rashid Khan while attempting a sweep.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva added 23 runs for the sixth wicket before the former was cleaned up by a slower one from Naveen-ul-Haq in the penultimate over.
Chamika Karunaratne (5*) hit the winning runs by scoring a boundary from Farooqi for a boundary over mid off to give Sri Lanka a four wicket win.