SL vs AFG: Ibrahim Zadran presents debut cap to uncle Noor Ali Zadran

Afghanistan didn’t have a memorable day out in the field on Day 2 of their only Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday, February 03 at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo as the hosts finished the day on 410/6. Earlier on Day 1, Afghanistan were bundled out for just 198 in the first innings with Rahmat Shah top-scoring with 91 (139). Notably, Afghanistan handed debut caps to four players for the match one of them was 35-year-old Noor Ali Zadran who’s uncle of Ibrahim Zadran.

Ibrahim handed over the debut cap to his uncle on Day 1 and the duo opened the innings together. However, they couldn’t put on a memorable stand as Ibrahim was dismissed on just the second ball of the match by Asitha Fernando for a duck while Noor went on to score 31 (46) with the help of five fours.

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Noor has earlier represented Afghanistan in 51 T20Is and 23 T20Is and also took part in the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup in July 2023. The right-handed batter has 1216 runs to his name in ODIs at an average of 24.81 with one hundred and 7 fifties to his name. He has further scored 597 runs in T20Is at an average of 27.13 with four fifties to his name.

Coming back to the Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Test, Rahmat Shah played a brilliant knock of 91 (139) to take Afghanistan to 198 in the first innings while no other batter crossed the 31-run mark. Vishwa Fernando was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka with figures of 4/51 in 12 overs.

Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal scored centuries for Sri Lanka on Day 2

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In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a great start with openers Nishan Madushka (37 off 53) and Dimuth Karunaratne (77 off 72) adding 93 runs for the first wicket. Following their dismissals, Angelo Mathews (141) and Dinesh Chandimal (107) scored magnificent centuries and added 232 runs for the fourth wicket. Courtesy of their massive stand, Sri Lanka find themselves in a commanding position at 410/6 leading by 212 runs in the first innings.