Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are bidding to get their first win of the tournament.
SL 155/5 (25) — K Perera 72, T Perera 2
It’s like the wheels have suddenly come off for Sri Lanka. Another over and another mix-up in the middle. It almost resulted in a run out but somehow SL survive.
SL 152/5 (24) — K Perera 70, T Perera 1
Wow. How does SL recover from here? K Perera needs to keep doing what he has been doing and T Perera needs to just stay there in the middle with him.
SL 149/5 (23) — K Perera 65
Hassan strikes now! In 11 balls, Sri Lanka have lost 4 wickets for just 5 runs. Nothing really has changed but Sri Lanka have just collapsed. de Silva edged that through to the keeper.
Last 11 balls: W 2 W. W 2 1. .. W
Dhananjaya de Silva c Mohammad Shahzad b Hamid 0(4)
SL 146/4 (22) — K Perera 65
Three wickets in an over! Nabi you genius! What is happening here. The ball isn’t turning or doing anything crazy. This is all Sri Lanka. Angelo Mathews edged that, it hit the keepers pads and popped up to first slip. Wow. This match has flipped and how!
Mathews c Rahmat b Nabi 0(2)
SL 146/3 (21.4) — K Perera 65
It is that man Nabi again. Kusal Mendis had a very short stay in the middle. Was almost dismissed off the first ball he faced, edging it just past the slips and then repeated the mistake. Wonderful bowling by Nabi. Pure class.
Kusal Mendis c Rahmat b Nabi 2(2)
Kusal Mendis be like «I Just came to say Hello» #AFGvSL#CWC19
SL 144/2 (21.2) — K Perera 65
Nabi gets the wicket again. He looped it up to the batsmen, no pace and Thirimanne got the inside edge back onto the stumps. Nabi’s spell has been superb especially if one takes into account the match situation – 4.2-0-13-2.
Thirimanne b Nabi 25(34,4×1)
SL 139/1 (20) — K Perera 63, Thirimanne 22
Once again, a good over from Rashid but if Sri Lanka are smart about this, they just need to play out his overs. That is what teams in the IPL did and even though his ER was good, his wicket count stayed low.
SL 136/1 (19) — K Perera 63, Thirimanne 19
Decent over from Hassan, who is back in the attack. The ball is doing something from the good length but Afghanistan just haven’t hit that length often enough.
SL 131/1 (18) — K Perera 61, Thirimanne 16
Steady over by Rashid but the problem for Afghanistan is that Sri Lanka don’t need to take any risks against him. They can just play out his overs.
SL 128/1 (17) — K Perera 60, Thirimanne 14
0 0 2 1Nb Wd 4 2 2Nb 4
Fifty for Perera off 42 balls but a really poor over by the Afghan skipper. No balls, free hits, fours – it had everything but good balls. 19 runs off the over.
15 — Afghanistan have already conceded 15 wides in this match; the most recorded during an innings so far in #CWC19 (previous high was also set by Afghanistan — 14 v Australia). Wayward. #AFGvSL
SL 109/1 (16) — K Perera 48, Thirimanne 11
Time for a drinks break. Sri Lanka will be particularly happy with their start, Afghanistan not so much. But Rashid Khan has just been introduced into the attack and if the Afghans have a game changer in their ranks, it is this man.
SL 104/1 (15) — K Perera 47, Thirimanne 7
Sri Lanka are in control and a few wickets can change things very quickly. Perera is key from this point on – needs to carry on, SL need someone to carry on.
SL 92/1 (13.1) — K Perera 43
WICKET! Nabi gets Afghanistan the breakthrough. A nothing shot to long-on. Almost looked like he was trying to chip it but it went straight to the fielder. A good innings but Sri Lanka would have loved him to carry on.
