Afghan in SL: Fazalhaq, Ibrahim set up Afghanistan’s comfortable win

Despite Wanindu Hasaranga's breezy 46-ball 66, Sri Lanka slipped to a 60-run loss in the opening ODI against Afghanistan at the Pallekele International Stadium. Meanwhile, Fazalhaq Farooqi (4 wickets) and Ibrahim Zadran (120-ball 106) were the star performers for the visitors as they collected 10 Super League points.

Barring Pathum Nissanka's 85, none of the Sri Lanka main batters made significant contributions and that didn't help the home side's cause. In just the fourth over of the innings, Ahmadzai trapped Kusal Mendis in front with the nip-backer. The opener took the review but to no avail. His pace colleague, Fazalhaq, found swing and seam and castled Dinesh Chandimal with a terrific delivery.

Nissanka, however, essayed a slew of shots - glance, cut and punch - to put some pressure back on the bowlers. For a brief period, Dhananjaya provided Nissanka with support and essayed the drive and pull while facing Ahmadzai and Fazalhaq. Unfortunately for the hosts, the partnership didn't prosper for long, with Gulbadin Naib castling Dhananjaya. The all-rounder also removed Charith Asalanka to leave Sri Lanka in further trouble at 91 for 4.

Despite losing wickets at the other end, Nissanka stitched timely stands of 46 with Dasun Shanaka and 31 with Hasaranga respectively. At 168 for 5, in the 30th over, Sri Lanka still were in the game but they were dealt a massive blow when Nissanka chopped one from Fazalhaq onto the stumps. With Sri Lanka in trouble, Hasaranga decided to take the ultra-aggressive route, smacking Mohammad Nabi for a six and four boundaries in a single over. He also took on Ahmadzai and Rashid Khan but with wickets falling at the other end, he ran out of partners and was the last man dismissed - cleaned up by Fazalhaq in just the 38th over.

Earlier, Ibrahim had composed a superbly paced ton while Rahmat Shah (52), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (53) and Najibullah Zadran (25-ball 42) made timely contributions to propel Afghanistan to a competitive score of 294/8. Afghanistan made a fine start in fairly good conditions for batting - Gurbaz and Ibrahim shared an alliance of 84 for the opening wicket. Eventually, Hasranga dismissed Gurbaz LBW, with the opener missing out on the slog-sweep.

Gurbaz and Rahmat then strung together an alliance of 118 in just over 24 overs to cement Afghanistan's strong position. The duo looked to pinch singles and twos, twinned with the occasional drive and glance from Ibrahim. After Rahmat fell to Kumara, Najibullah took over by playing a volley of shots. Ibrahim at the other end reached his hundred with a boundary off Kumara in the 41st over.

Gulbadin, who came out to bat after the dismissal of Ibrahim, provided valuable support to Najibullah as the pair put on a useful partnership of 35. But once Najibullah was dismissed in the 47th over, Afghanistan lost their way a bit and suffered a collapse and were bundled out off the final ball of the last over.

Brief scores:

Afg: 294 for 8 (50) (Ibrahim Zadran 106; Wanindu Hasaranga 2-42) beat

SL: 234 (38) (Pathum Nissanka 85, Wanindu Hasaranga 66; Fazalhaq Farooqi 4-49)