Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka game in Asia Cup 2023 was nothing short of a thriller. The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side stated that their team was unaware of the Net Run Rate (NRR) scenarios. Notably, Afghanistan lost the match by only two runs. And, most importantly, failed to chase 291 runs in 37.1 overs, which knocked them out of the tournament.
Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott told that the team wasn’t aware qualifying scenario. Even after 37.1 overs they had an opportunity to qualify, if they had hit a 6 in next 3 balls. However, the team wasn’t aware of the same. As things stand, Afghanistan Cricket Borad has not taken this lightly and wrote a complaint regarding the major NRR calculation to the governing body.
Coming to the game, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. The openers gave them a perfect start while batting at number three; Kusal Mendis hit 92 runs to help the team post a defendable total on board. Towards the fag end of the innings, Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana contributed 33* and 28 runs, respectively, as the Lankan Lions looked sorted.
Even with the ball, the Dusan Shanaka-led side started in a remarkable fashion. They picked up three quick wickets, but Shahidi and Mohammad Nabi saved Afghanistan ship sinking ship. The duo built a partnership of 80 runs, which completely changed the complexion of the game. However, after they got out, wickets kept on falling on a regular basis, and despite their incredible effort, they fell short in the end.
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