A comprehensive win for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka registered a 10-wicket win over Afghanistan in the only test match on Monday at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo. Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and opted to bowl first.
After losing the toss, Afghanistan bowled out 198 runs in their first inning. Rahmat Shah was the top scorer with 91 runs, and Noor Ali Zadran scored 31 runs. Ikram Alikhil and Qais Ahmad contributed with 21 runs each. For Sri Lanka, Vishwa Fernando claimed 4 wickets, while Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya chipped in with 3 wickets each.
In reply to that, Sri Lanka was all out for 439 runs intheir first inning. Angelo Mathews scored 141 runs, and Dinesh Chandimal scored 107 runs. Both Chandimal and Mathews made a 232-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Dimuth Karunarathne contributed 77 runs. Naveed Zadran took 4 wickets, while Nijat Masood and Qais Ahmad claimed 2 wickets each.
Afghanistan started their second inning 241 runs behind. However, the Afghanistan top order made a strong comeback and made two hundred plus partnerships for the first two wickets. Ibrahim Zadran and Noor Ali Zadran made 106 runs for the first wicket, while Rahmat Shah and Ibrahim Zadran made a 108-run partnership for the second wicket. Ibrahim Zadran was the top scorer with 114 runs. Rahmat Shah scored 54 runs, and Noor Ali Zadran scored 47 runs. However, after a solid start, Afghanistan lost momentum, and eventually they bowled out 296 runs. For Sri Lanka, Prabath Jayasuriya claimed 5 wickets and Asitha Fernando took 3 wickets.
After that, Sri Lanka chased down the target successfully and scored 56 runs without losing a wicket. Dimuth Karunaratne scored an unbeaten 32 runs, while Nishan Madushka scored an unbeaten 22 runs.
