Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup 2022: Match 1 – Who Said What

The Asia Cup 2022 kicked off on a high note as Afghanistan gave the cricket fans the thrill that they had been looking for. The Mohammad Nabi-led side was on fire from the word go as the bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals to break Sri Lanka’s momentum. The Lankans were never able to get their game together as Afghanistan did not give them a single opportunity.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, Afghanistan bowlers dismissed the top order within the powerplay to grab the advantage from the start of the play. As the pacers did their job, the spinners came into action and went with the flow. The Sri Lankan lineup crumbled like cookies as they ended up scoring mere 105 runs before being dished out within 19.4 overs.

Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged three wickets while Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked up two wickets each. With a low total to chase, the Afghanistan openers started with a bang. The duo of Hazratullah Zazai and wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz shared a quick-fire 83-run stand, with the latter making his bat talk and the Sri Lanka bowlers were left in disbelief.

Afghanistan lost just two wickets during their chase, but the batters carried the momentum that was initiated by Gurbaz before walking off. They chased down the score within 10.1 overs to register a massive victory. Afghanistan dominated the game from the very beginning and the show put on by the opening batters was the cherry on top.

Losing skipper, Dasun Shanaka said:

There are two ways to think about the toss, it would have been a bit easier if we were bowling first with two youngsters playing for the first time. There was too much grass, there wasn’t too much in it for the spinners but still our world-class spinners should have done better. I think in T20 cricket anything can happen, we can bounce back in the next game.

Winning skipper Mohammad Nabi said: 

The boys played really well, especially the fast bowlers. When we decided to bowl first, they used the pitch so well. We were just discussing to hit the right lines, and if we get a bit of swing it will be of use for us. We have a lot of confidence after such a game, hopefully we can do well in the next game as well.

Player of the Match Fazalhaq Farooqi said:

I was trying to make a breakthrough for my team, that was the simple plan today. With the new ball, I am trying to bowl good deliveries, but I can also bowl at the death. I am comfortable doing both.