Afghanistan won by 7 wickets (with 28 balls remaining)
Thanks for your company today. It was fun covering this game. For now, it's goodbye and goodnight from me, Rvel Zahid, my co-commentator Madushka Balasuriya and our scoring team. Join us tomorrow for another exciting contest between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both teams are desperate for a win, so we can expect a fascinating battle!
Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka Captain: Little bit short of runs, 240 not enough on this pitch, 280-300 would have been a good score. Our bowlers did well in first 10 overs, dew came in and it became hard to bowl later. Ball was coming good on the bat in the second innings; Madushanka has done really well, young guy...going forward (he will get better)
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan Captain: Quite happy and proud of the team...the way we performed in all departments. Pakistan chase gave us a lot of confidence and belief that we can chase any kind of target. We started really well in bowling; the chase was very professional and I am very happy about it. Coaches are always positive, we worked very hard before the World Cup. Also right now all coaching and management staff are working hard and giving us confidence, before Pakistan game, coach's words changed my mindset a lot. As a captain you should lead from the front foot so I am trying my best, I am very happy that i finished the game and i will try to maintain that in upcoming games. Rashid Khan is the best player and he is a very energetic guy so all team is full of energy around him. I want to congratulate to our nation and i thank Indian people for supporting us and coming to the stadiums.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Player of the Match: (Rashid Khan translating) It feels pretty good, we have three wins in the tournament, happy to contribute and win the game. I looked for swing early on but didn't get it so then I kept it simple and hit the right areas and that was the plan for the spell and I got success in it. We struggled in the past in the last overs...gave away too many runs but we bowled with variations today and the hard work in net sessions helped, couple of days rest also worked in our favour. We tried to bowl as many variations as possible. Thank you
Presentation ceremony coming up
I think Jonathan Trott has done a stellar job in helping Afghanistan raise their game awareness and tactical sense. They have approached this chase in a measured and professional manner. Previously, we used to see them hitting the panic button too early and adopting a high-risk approach, throwing caution to the wind completely and often losing wickets in clusters. But, it seems that after their victory against Pakistan and England, there is a newfound sense of calm and self-belief in this spirited team and they don't succumb feebly anymore. Afghanistan have displayed restraint when necessary and also maintained a steady run rate throughout this chase. It's been remarkable consistency from Afghanistan in this World Cup! On the other hand, Sri Lanka would rue not capitalising on the starts in the batting department and falling short of at-least 50 runs; they couldn't exert any scoreboard pressure and the dew also didn't help their cause
Rashid Khan got his wish; he wanted to win his 100th ODI and looks stoked about it
Afghanistan players are taking a victory lap. They have received tremendous support today, and the crowd has been entertained royally
Sabhuku: "Great improvement for Afghanistan. Congrats.. "
lakesidey: "Sad day for SL cricket in more ways than one...RIP Percy Uncle!"
Vishwas: "Have to say NL and Afg are giving great account of themselves after edging out Ireland and WI in the qualifications.
AJ: "CRICINFO, office meetings and live match in media room ... I wish cricinfo allowed to post a pic" you may send it to yourshots@cricinfo.com
Ankush: "With AFG winning matches this comfortably, I would love to see them squeezing in the top 4 "
ASingh: "Give a cookie to the guy who predicted that Afghanistan would win with 4 overs to spare."
Raghavendra: "From UAE, reading the commentary of clinical Afgan Performance. Back in 2014, i was the statutory auditor of ESPNcricinfo and started following the website to understand the business model, moved out as Auditor but stayed back as a fan for the wonderful work here."
Sagar: "Thanks to cricinfo, I am able to follow the match daily.... If match becomes interesting then only I shift to Disney HotstarP.S"
Naveen: "Alrite folks.. good nitez from Singapore.. thanx for the company.. I shall read Madhuskas report in the morning.. already 12.22 here" Sounds good
neetika Raina : "no huss no fuzz, taking singles and completing the game instead of trying to hit big shots in air As showoff... Afghanistan team is surely showing great signs of maturity... winning fans across"
MURALI KRISHNAN: "Comfortably watching both the match live and Cricinfo commentary along in my sofa at Woodbury, Minnesota on a zero degree Celsius winter morning with breakfast. Heaven.. Brilliant setting
Malik Aadil: "Afghanistan has grown from last two years very brilliantly. They play sensible cricket with much maturity and executed their plans very well. " True that
vishaanth: "Watching from my home at Kebitigollewa a remote village in sri lanka, after coming back half-watering paddy fields for no use, has to go back n do other half.."
That just sums up Sri Lanka's woeful outing today! He goes for the glory shot and man at deep square drops an absolute lollipop - Asalanka, the culprit! Afghanistan win another match in an emphatic manner with seven wickets in hand. They outgunned Sri Lanka in all departments of the game and didn't give them a sniff!
Congratulations to Afghanistan and commiserations to Sri Lanka! There's is joy in Afghanistan's camp and despair in the other.
PersonWhoSaidIt: "@Mike, That was me. I'll take an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Thank you!"
Mike: "Congratulations to the person who said earlier that AFG will win with 4 Overs to spare. Excellent." Deserves a gift
Round the wicket, zinging it in from outside and it climbs from back of a length, hacks it away insouciantly past point
2000 runs for Hashmatullah Shahidi as he slices this short ball in the channel behind cover for a run
Another short ball targeting the body, chest height, pulled but not off the middle, pinches a run anyway
In the slot and ramped away! Short and into the body, he is not afraid to pounce on it and jauntily heaves it away to midwicket boundary, just four away from yet another clinical run-chase! Excellent timing but the key here is waiting for the ball till the last second so he can place it into the gap
Round the wicket, spears it quicker on short length, attacking the body, tucked off the backfoot towards square of midwicket
vicky k: "Watching the match while battling high seas onboard Merchant ship. With limited bandwidth onboard due to satellite internet, espncricinfo has been god sent." Wow
Dropped short not on furious pace just inside the tramline on off, waits and then powers it away to sweeper cover
Shortens his length, meandering away outside off, chops it away to point
vishal: "Having CS exam tomorrow , but still I am doing my job by reading the commentary quickly and changing the desktop page to python back :D ... Thank you espn cricinfo and team for this!" I can't wrap my head around how you manage it all, incredible
Short of a length, seaming in from outside off, gets behind the line and blocks it back to the bowler
Sushant: "First match I followed on espncricinfo was Sachin's 200, till now enjoy every game being loyal, does not matter if I watch the match or not espncricinfo is always open in my browser" #Respect
Azar: "Watching from my office in scotland, @vinod yes I am also doing the same important work"
Round the wicket, a touch short on the pads, nudged to short midwicket
Shortish and attacking the body, lifts his front leg and fends it behind square leg for a run
Fawad: "This been very clinical from Afghans. They look a better batting unit than the one they started the tournament with. With such performances, i wish them a spot in that forbidden (for such teams) top 4. They have to do the heavylifting themselves though, both SA and AUS await. Also Netherlands."
Flogs him for a boundary towards midwicket, once bounce over the rope much to the delight of fervent fans in the stands. A touch short and seizes on it, right off the middle
Nitish: "Afghanistan are learning step by step. They are doing something very right that Pakistan and England have failed to do and that is not losing wickets, rotating strike, not going after boundaries, playing safe. Credit to their coach!"
Drags his length back, much closer to off stump, clears his front leg and then goes for an ambitious pull, early into the shot so it doesn't go far away
Aniket: "Scrolling through the commentary irrespective of how important the meeting is goin on" nice multitasking
Bala G: "watching cricinfo while waiting for my daughters vaccine appointment in US" cool
Hemal Bamania: "I am on the app, enjoying the commentary waiting at bus stop in Auckland, New Zealand at 5:12 am. " make sure you don't miss the bus
Short of a length on an unimpeachable line outside off, ball scratches the outside edge but there is no slip so it trundles away to square of third man and crashes onto the advertising hoardings, fielder puts in the dive in vain
A bit shot and wide, stands tall and taps it away past cover for a run
Nailed it! This time it's not that high and he expertly rides the bounce, cracks a pull and finds the fence, shows brute force in his wrists
That's a remarkable effort from Nissanka, came charging in from deep midwicket, took big steps and then went airborne, it hits the palms and then burst out of his hands, excellent commitment! Short ball and he didn't get on top of the ball
Sachin Garg: "Life would have been difficult without espncricinfo.. Following this website when it was just cricinfo.com with white background (instead of current blue and white). Thinking this from New Jersey" Likewise, following it since high school
A touch short and outside off, 132.1 kph, he throws the kitchen sink at it, trying to finish the game in a hurry and it wasn't far away from hitting the off stump
back of a length sliding into the pads, tugs it away nonchalantly behind square leg
Short of a length, attacking off stump line, scythes it away past point and brings up a wonderful half-century, stepping up to the plate when his team needed it the most. Run a ball fifty, raises his bat to the gallery and looks elated.
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| Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune | |
| Toss | Afghanistan, elected to field first |
| Series | |
| Season | 2023/24 |
| Player Of The Match | |
| Match number | ODI no. 4687 |
| Hours of play (local time) | 14.00 start, First Session 14.00-17.30, Interval 17.30-18.00, Second Session 18.00-21.30 |
| Match days | 30 October 2023 - daynight (50-over match) |
| Umpires | |
| TV Umpire | |
| Reserve Umpire | |
| Match Referee | |
| Points | Afghanistan 2, Sri Lanka 0 |
Over 46 • AFG 242/3
Afghanistan won by 7 wickets (with 28 balls remaining)Powered by Smart Stats