An Outstanding Spell from a star spinner Hasaranga, 3 wickets in his 4 overs, Sri Lanka limited Afghanistan to a small score in their ICC Men’s World Cup encounter in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Hasaranga with a Magical Spell
As Afghanistan was restricted to 144/8 in brilliant batting conditions at The Gabba, Hasaranga collected figures of 3/13 from four neat overs and was important in the field with an excellent outfield catch. In a great individual performance, the Sri Lankan star got the important wicket of Usman Ghani (27) early on and then returned at the death to capture the scalp of fellow spinner Rashid Khan (9).
Before Hasaranga’s quick intervention during the batting Powerplay, Ghani and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) had given Afghanistan a great start by putting up 42 for the opening wicket. As Afghanistan’s middle order failed to capitalize on the strong start offered by their openers, veteran hitter Gulbadin Naib was run out in farcical circumstances as he rolled into the wicket without his bat.
For Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, the calculation is simple:
A win is required to remain in contention for a semi-final spot. They are in the bottom two slots in Group 1 with only two points, and with both Australia and New Zealand already at five points, they will need to win both of their remaining games to continue in the semi-final competition.
However, only one team may win this competition, which means the losing team will be eliminated from the final four races.