Twitter Reactions: Sri Lanka finish strong on Day 1 of sole Test against Afghanistan after brilliant bowling performance

Sri Lanka and Afghanistan kicked off their ongoing multi-format series by facing off in an only Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Friday, February 2. The clash began with Afghanistan coming in to bat first after losing the toss.

The side got off to a subpar start as opener Ibrahim Zadran was sent packing for a duck. Furthermore, the horrid start got even worse after Noor Ali Zadran was sent back to the pavilion for just 31 runs in 46 deliveries. However, it was the knock of Rahmat Shah that stabilised the innings for the visitors. Shah amassed 91 runs in 139 balls and provided some balance to Afghanistan’s innings.

After his knock, the rest of the batters could not amount to much. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi was dismissed for just 17 runs, with Nasir Jamal getting out for a duck. Sri Lanka’s bowling attack did a magnificent job of limiting Afghanistan to a subpar total in the first innings. The likes of Ikram Alikhil and Qais Ahmad were dismissed for 21 runs each.

Afghanistan were bundled out for 198 runs in the first innings, and as for the hosts, Vishwa Fernando was the highest wicket-taker in the first innings with four wickets to his name. Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya took three wickets each as well.

Coming into the first innings with a trail of 198 runs, Sri Lanka put forth a good performance with the bat and left it all to play for on Day 2. As Day 1 ended, Nishan Madushka and Dimuth Karunaratne stayed unbeaten on the crease with scores of 36* and 42* runs, respectively. 

Posting 80 runs by the end of the day, Sri Lanka will hope to continue their good run on Day 2 of the ongoing only Test and post a big total against Afghanistan in the first innings.

Here are the best tweets from Day 1 of Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Test: