Sri Lanka, on Monday (February 5), completed a thumping 10-wicket win over Afghanistan in the one-off SL vs AFG Test in Colombo. Riding on Prabath Jayasuriya’s five-wicket haul, the hosts bowled out the tourists for 296 runs in the second innings before chasing down 56 runs with ease.
After conceding a big lead of 241 runs in the first innings, Afghanistan had their back against the wall. They needed a solid start with the bat and got exactly that. Opener Ibrahim Zadran scored a century and shared century-plus stands with Noor Ali Zadran and Rahmat Shah to put his team in a solid position before they suffered an inexplicable collapse.
Ibrahim and Noor Ali added 106 runs for the first wicket. Vishwa Fernando broke the stand by dismissing Noor Ali for 47. It was followed by a 108-run stand between Ibrahim and Shah. Kasun Rajitha ended the stand by sending back Shah for 54. Ibrahim, on the other end, completed a fine century before becoming the third Afghanistan wicket to fall.
SL vs AFG: Afghanistan collapse
Ibrahim’s departure triggered a collapse for the tourists as they struggled to deal with the second new ball. The last six players could not even touch the 5-run mark as Afghanistan lost their last 7 wickets for just 50 runs. Prabath Jayasuriya was the destructor-in-chief for the hosts as he ran through Afghanistan’s middle and lower order.
The left-arm spinner finished with figures of 5 for 107 while Asitha Fernando claimed 3 wickets. Set a target of 56 runs, Sri Lanka crossed the finishing line inside eight overs. Dimuth Karunaratne scored 32 off 22 balls while Nishan Madushka scored 22 off 23.
Earlier in the game, Afghanistan were bowled out for 198 runs in their first innings after Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. Barring Rahmat Shah (91), no other batter could even touch the 40-run mark during the poor batting display. For Sri Lanka, Vishwa Fernando picked up 4 wickets while Asitha and Jayasuriya took 3 wickets each.
In reply to Afghanistan’s modest first-innings total, Sri Lanka piled up 439 runs. Angelo Mathews (141) and Dinesh Chandimal (107) led their team’s charge with the bat by scoring impressive centuries. For Afghanistan, Naveed Zadran claimed 4 wickets.
SL vs AFG scorecard:
