Sri Lanka win in record chase | Daily News
Charith and Dunith make fighting stand to level series:

Sri Lanka win in record chase

Ibrahim Zadran, who notched up his  third ODI hundred, scored 162 off 138 balls.
Ibrahim Zadran, who notched up his third ODI hundred, scored 162 off 138 balls.

Charith Asalanka (83) and Dunith Wellalage (31) made a fighting unbeaten seventh wicket 65 runs stand as Sri Lanka recorded a superb four-wicket win over Afghanistan in their third and final ODI played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

It was fantastic effort by Sri Lankan batters to chase 314 runs and they did it in a grand style with two balls to spare to level the series one all after second ODI washed out on Sunday.

In fact this victory once again make expectations for the direct World Cup qualification.

The 19 year old Dunith Wellalage played a good supporting role to build up his fighting knock of 31 in 21 balls with 4 fours and a six while Asalanka made a anchor role to finish the game with a six off the bowling of Fazalhaq Farooki. In the last over which was bowled by Farooki, Sri Lanka needed 13 runs while Young Dunith Wellalage made a good start with a six and made a single to rotate the strike and Asalanka scored 82 in 74 balls with five fours and four sixes. His fighting knock also earned him Man of the Match award. The Afghanistan opener Ibrahim Zadran who hit two centuries in this series won the Player of the Series award.

Earlier Sri Lanka openers Kusal Mendis (67) and Pathum Nissanka (35) added a solid start adding 101 runs while Dinesh Chandimal (32 in 33 balls) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (43 in 45 balls) made useful knocks to build up the total.The experienced spinner Radhid Khan four for 37 and Mohammed Nabi two for 56 bowled well but their efforts were not successful as Sri Lanka win with four wickets in hand.

Afghanistan scored the highest total at this venue and Ibrahim's personal best score of 162 in 138 balls with 15 fours and 4 sixes easily became the highest individual score hit by an Afghanistan batsman in ODI format.

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss three times in a row and decided to bat first. Sri Lankan paceman Kasun Rajitha made the early breakthrough dismissing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for five in 12 balls in the third over.

However, Rahmat Shah, making his debut, scored 22 in 30 balls with four fours and shared a 41-run second-wicket stand with Ibrahim Zadran. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi did not succeed as he scored only four runs in 10 balls and Afghanistan were 57 for 3 in 15 overs.

The best partnership came when Ibrahim Zadran and Najibullah Zadran (77 in 76 balls with 8 fours and a six) added a 154-run stand to stay confident in the crease while Sri Lanka bowlers were under a lot of pressure.

Ibrahim Zadran was the best batsman in this series with two centuries in which he completed his third ODI century was finally out for 162 in the last ball of the innings. Kasun Rajitha was successful taking three for 60 while Wanindu Hasaranga finished with two for 67 but both conceded six runs per over. Asitha Fernando who replaced Lahiru Kumara took one for 64 and Dhananjaya de Silva one for 42. Dunith Wellalage who replaced Dhananjaya Lakshan bowled only four overs and conceded 25 runs remained wicket-less.


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