ICC World Cup 2019: Match 7, AFG vs SL – Nabi’s brilliance, Malinga’s 697-day wait and more stats

Sri Lanka’s pacers showed their team the way for their maiden win of the tournament as they defeated Afghanistan by 34 runs in the rain-affected fixture. The Lankans were cursing at 144/1 with Kusal Perera scoring an 81-ball 78 opening the innings. However, triple-wicket over from Mohammad Nabi triggered a collapse as they were reduced to 182/8 at 33 overs. Nearly three-hour interval was caused due to the rain which reduced the game to 41 overs-a-side.

Sri Lanka were bundled out for 201 after the resumption and the Afghans were needed to chase 187 in 41 overs. The newest Test playing nation stumbled from 34/0 to 57/5 in the space of eight overs. Najibullah Zadran and skipper Gulbadin Naib added 64 runs for the 6th wicket before the Afghans were rattled by Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga. They lost their last five wickets for 31 runs and were bundled out for only 152.

All the statistical highlights from Sri Lanka’s first win of the World Cup 2019:

Sri Lanka break their streak:

1 – This win brought an end to Sri Lanka’s losing spree at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff as they lost each of their previous five ODI matches at this venue and also got defeated in a Test match here.

Sri Lanka collapses yet again:

4 – Runs aggregated by Sri Lanka No.4 to No.7 batsmen in this game; the fewest by them in an ODI. Their previous lowest was five runs in the previous game against New Zealand. Overall, there are only five other instances of No.4 to No.7 batsmen collectively scoring five runs in an ODI inning.

15 – Runs Sri Lanka added for 3rd to 6th wicket partnerships in this game; the 3rd fewest by them in an ODI. They made only nine runs during the 2012 Paarl ODI against South Africa. In the previous game against New Zealand, they added only 14 runs as they went down from 47/1 to 61/6.

Malinga’s wait ends:

687 – This win was Sri Lanka’s first victory in Internationals in 687 days with Lasith Malinga in the playing XI. Malinga was last part of a winning Sri Lankan team was during the home ODI series against Zimbabwe. Since then, the pacer featured in 22 ODIs and six T20Is ahead of this game but failed to finish on the winning side.

Back to back 4-fers for Pradeep:

9 – Nuwan Pradeep became only the 9th Sri Lankan to bag 4-wicket hauls in consecutive innings in ODI cricket. Pradeep claimed 4/34 against Scotland in the ODI played last month which was his maiden ODI 4-fer.

A Nabi special:

4/30 – Mohammad Nabi’s bowling figures of 4/30 are the best for an Afghanistan player in the World Cup. He bettered Shapoor Zadran’s figures of 4/38 during the 2015 edition game against Scotland.

11 – Mohammad Nabi became only the 11th player to bag a 4-wicket haul in both ODI and T20 World Cups in Men’s cricket. The off-spinner took 4/20 in the 2016 edition match against Hong Kong.

Thirimanne @ 3000:

3019 – Lahiru Thirimanne completed 3000 runs in ODI cricket when he got to his individual score of six runs. Thirimanne got to the milestone in 100 ODI innings; the 3rd fewest among Sri Lankans. Only Upul Tharanga (93 inns) and Marvan Atapattu (94 inns) got quicker to the 3000-run mark than Thirimanne.

Another duck for Mathews:

3 – Number of ducks for Angelo Mathews in the World Cup; the joint-most by any player for Sri Lanka. Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene also had three ducks in the CWC for the Lankans. Mathews is also only the 4th Sri Lankan to bag a duck in consecutive CWC games. He was dismissed for a 9-ball duck in the previous fixture.