Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights, ICC World Cup 2019 Highlights: Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by 34 runs (DLS)

Highlights: Sri Lanka bowled out Afghanistan for 152 as they beat Afghanistan by 34 runs via DLS method. Nuwan Pradeep was the star bowler for Sri Lanka, recording figures of 4/31 in his 9 overs. Lasith Malinga also picked up three crucial wickets to set up the win. Earlier, the Dimuth Karunratne-led were bowled out for 201 in a rain-curtailed match. Afghanistan needed 187 to win via DLS method. (FULL SCORECARD)Follow Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights here:

11:39 hrs IST

Rashid Khan looks dejected after losing his wicket. (Reuters)

SRI LANKA BEAT AFGHANISTAN!

Lasith Malinga finally picks up the final wicket of Hassan. He has been castled with another beauty of a slow yorker from the speedster. Afghanistan are bowled out for 152. Sri Lanka win by 34 runs via DLS method.

23:34 hrs IST

ZADRAN RUN OUT

Fantastic direct hit from the skipper Dimuth Karunratne all but seals the match for Afghanistan. Najibullah running towards the running end, he needed to steal a single on the final ball to keep the strike. But he could not put the ball outside the circle. And the throw from Karunaratne was accurate.

23:05 hrs IST

Lasith Malinga special!

Yorker, and that is right into the block hole. A slow delivery, and that knocks down the stumps. Dawlat Zadran’s struggles comes to an end. AFG 136/8

23:02 hrs IST

Rashid Khan is castled!

Rashid Khan was stunned by a straighter one from Nuwan Pradeep. The ball took a swing and Khan was just trying to play it straight. But the ball came inside, touched his pad and went on to knock down the bails. AFG 123/7

Pradeep traps the skipper!

Skipper Gulbadin Naib has been trapped by Nuwan Pradeep and this is a big blow to Afghanistan. The ball looked straying down the leg side, the umpire raised his fingers. Naib called for a review and it went to umpire’s call. AFG 122/6

10:42 PM IST

100 up for Afghanistan

The skipper is building a partnership with Zadran. The duo have taken Afghanistan past the 100-run mark.

10:23 PM IST

Partnership building

There is a partnership building between skipper Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran who both have added 33 runs in 28 balls to settle down their side. AFG 90/5 in the 19th over now, but still need 97 more to win with five wickets in hand.

10:02 hrs IST

Perera castles Nabi!

Mohammad Nabi missed a delivery outside off stump. The ball kept really low and it went on to take down the stumps. Perera rejoice as Afghanistan are half way down. AFG 57/5

21:58 hrs IST

Edged and taken!

Shahidi innings comes to an end as he edged a wide and short delivery from Nuwan Pradeep to Kusal Perera behind the stumps. Perera timed his jump to perfection. AFG 57/4

21:45 hrs IST

Zazai departs

Thisara Perera takes a good catch in the deep and Hazratullah Zazai has to walk back for 30. Nuwan Pradeep strikes. Afghanistan are in trouble now. AFG 45/3

21:35 hrs IST

Rahmat departs for 2

The wheels are starting to coming off for Afghanistan now. Rahmat Shah never looked comfortable in the middle. Isuru Udana bowls a delivery outside off stump, and he edged it to Angelo Mathews in the slip. AFG 43/2

21:16 PM IST

In the air...

...DROPPED! Zazai has been dropped by Mendis. That was a sitter. Could have been easily taken.

But Malinga eventually gets a wicket two balls later, dismissing Shahzad, who flicks it to Karunaratne at short mid-wicket. He departs for 7. AFG 34/1

21:00 hrs IST

Afghanistan off to good start

Hazratullah Zazai smacks a six at long-off and this has been a good start for Afghanistan with the bat. Malinga tested Shahzad with a few full length deliveries in the first over, but the opener kept his cool.

Meanwhile, the target has been reduced to 187, via DLS method.

20:43 hrs IST

Sri Lanka 201 all out

Sri Lanka have been all out for 201. Rashid Khan picked up the last wicket. Nuwan Pradeep was castled against a seemingly-slow delivery.

It was Dawlat Zadran who picked up the first wicket after the break. He cleaned up Lasiht Malinga for 4. Afghanistan need 202 to win.

20:33 hrs IST

Match Resumed

The game has resumed and the Sri Lanka batsmen are out in the middle. With eight overs to go, there is not much time for them to settle down and they will have start hitting straight away. Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be looking to finish the innings as soon as possible. SL 194/8

20:05 PM IST

Play to resume at 8:30 PM

The play will start at 20:30 hrs IST. The match has been reduced to 41 overs per side. The innings break will only be of 10 minutes.

19:45 hrs IST

Rainfall stops: Report

According to Cricbuzz, the rainfall has stopped at Cardiff. The groundsmen are on the field, taking a stock of the situation. The groundsmen are draining the water.

18:26 hrs IST

Forecast grim for the next 45 minutes

The foreacast is grim for the next 45 minutes, reports Cricbuzz. If the match is halted for another 30 minutes then the cut down of overs in the game will begin.

18:10 hrs IST

Heavy rain in Cardiff

There are no signs of play yet as heavy rain continues at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Afghanistan would certainly hope that rain stops and play can resume as soon as possible.

17:39 hrs IST

Rain halts play

Only rain could have saved Sri Lanka today and they have dawned upon the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The players walk off the field with Sri Lanka on 182/8 in 33 overs.

17:32 hrs IST

Rashid Khan picks up his first wicket

Rashid Khan picks up the one set Sri Lankan batsman. Kusal Perera nicks a delivery and gets out caught behind for 78 runs. SL: 180/8 in 32.2 overs.

17:30 hrs IST

Massive Collapse

From 144/2 to 178/7, this has been a massive collapse for Sri Lanka. After the humiliating loss against New Zealand, they started this game well but it turned out to be a similar story as the batsmen kept throwing away their wickets. A lot depends on Kusal Perera at this point and any score under 220 should be an issue for Afghanistan.

17:24 hrs IST

Dawlat Zadran bowls Isuru Udana out

Isuru Udana goes for a big shot and misses the ball completely. Dawlat Zadran bowls the Sri Lankan out as the Islanders lose their seventh wicket.

17:15 hrs IST

Sri Lanka rest their hopes on Kusal Perera

Kusal Perera was stranded at the other end when Sri Lanka lost five wickets for just 15 runs. Now, the entire team has pinned their hopes on him as he bats on 77 from 78 balls. Sri Lanka: 177/6 in 30 overs.

17:01 hrs IST

Thisara Perera run out

Thisara Perera tucks the ball and goes for a single, but quickly realises that there is no run there. Shahidi effects a good throw as Shahzad takes off the stumps in time. Sri Lanka lose their sixth wicket.

16:50 hrs IST

Hamid dismisses Dhananjaya

Hamid bowls a beautiful delivery outside the off-stump and Dhananjaya edges the ball to the keeper. The Sri Lankan batting line-up is falling like a pack of cards. Sri Lanka: 149/5 in 23 overs.

16:43 hrs IST

Nabi strikes thrice in the same over

Mathews follows a delivery from Nabi and presents a catch to Rahmat at slip. The all-rounder has tilted the match in Afghanistan’s favour in one over. Sri Lanka: 146/4 in 22 overs.

16:40 hrs IST

Nabi strikes again!

Nabi induces an edge from Mendis and Rahmat takes an easy catch at slip. The Afghanistan all-rounder strikes twice in the same over.

16:37 hrs IST

Nabi dismisses Thirimanne

Thirimanne is late on his shot and inside-edges a delivery on to the stumps. Nabi strikes again for Afghanistan as Sri Lanka are at 144/2 in 21.2 overs.

16:28 hrs IST

Perera continues on his merry way

He has looked fluent all innings and Kusal Perera is racing along. Afghanistan need their spinners to not only apply brakes, but also pick up wickets here in this middle phase

16:06 hrs IST

Thirimanne and Perera take SL past 100

Thirimanne strikes a boundary off Naib as Sri Lanka cross 100 in 14.5 overs. Perera is nearing half-century at the other end.

15:59 hrs IST

Karunaratne departs for 30 runs

Karunaratne tries to clear long-on, but hits the ball straight to Najibullah. Nabi strikes for Afghanistan as Sri Lanka lose their first wicket for 93 runs in 13.2 overs.

15:49 hrs IST

Gulbadin Naib into the attack

The skipper Gulbadin Naib comes into the attack and pulls things back for Afghanistan. He concedes just four runs as Sri Lanka move to 83/0 in 11 overs.

15:38 hrs IST

Kusal Perera on song

Kusal Perera is looking very good at the middle. He smashes Mujeeb for two boundaries as Sri Lanka move to 71/0 in 8 overs. It looks like the Islanders are going to post a big total today.

15:26 hrs IST

Sri Lanka reach 52/0 in 5 overs

Karunaratne and Perera have got Sri Lanka off to a flyer in this match. The Islanders reach 52/0 in 5 overs.

15:19 hrs IST

Big over for Sri Lanka

Karunaratne and Perera are turning on the heat in Cardiff. They are hitting boundaries with ease as they score 16 runs off Hamid in the fourth over. Sri Lanka: 37/0.

15:10 hrs IST

Kusal Perera on the charge

Kusal Perera smashes Hamid Hasan for two boundaries as Sri Lanka take 15 runs from the second over. SL: 20/0 in 2 overs.

15:05 hrs IST

Dawlat Zadran concedes five runs

Dawlat Zadran almost bowled a near perfect over, but Karunaratne managed to tuck a delivery for a boundary as Sri Lanka move to 5/0 in 1 over.

14:44 hrs IST

Captains speak

Gulbadin Naib: We want to bowl first. The conditions are good for the bowlers. It’s a good toss to win. We put a good total, but that wasn’t enough against a team like Australia. I’m not looking at the past records. Sri Lanka is a champion side. If you play good cricket, the result will go your side. No changes.

Dimuth Karunaratne:In the last game also we batted first, now we know how the conditions will play. The batsmen have an idea how to score big runs here. It’s not a 300 wicket here. It’s (captaincy) not easy, it’s a good challenge. I’ve got a couple of captains (in the team) who have captained Sri Lanka before .. they give me the support. Jeevan Mendis is not playing. Pradeep is playing.

14:39 hrs IST

Playing XIs

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga

Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad(w), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib(c), Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan

14:34 hrs IST

Afghanistan win toss, elect to field

Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib wins the toss and elects to bowl against Sri Lanka. The Afghanistan are playing an unchanged XI. Nuwan Pradeep replaces Jeevan Mendis in the Sri Lankan side.

14:14 hrs IST

Sri Lanka’s predicted XI

Ahead of the match against Afghanistan, skipper Karunaratne will try not to make a lot of changes in order to maintain team morale but the team can see a couple of new faces.

Here is Sri Lanka’s predicted XI for the match.

13:58 hrs IST

Afghanistan predicted XI

Facing off against Sri Lanka in their second game against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Afghanistan could likely go back to the experience of Afghan, who would not only provide a good batting option in the middle-order, but will also give Naib a man on the field he could rely on for advices during crucial situations.

Read about Afghanistan’s predicted XI here.

13:56 hrs IST

Player battles

The Dimuth Karunaratne-led side would take on the inexperienced Afghanistan in their next game on Tuesday, and hope to find a way back to winning ways. On the other hand, Afghanistan, who also suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in their opening game, would hope to open their points tally with a win.

Read the important player battles here.

13:33 hrs IST

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the ICC World Cup match between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Both teams are desperate for a win as both started their campaigns with losses. While Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand, Afghanistan were beaten by seven wickets by defending champions Australia.

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