Sri Lanka was in a strong position

Sri Lanka were trailing by 118 runs at the end of the first day of the only Test match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan on Friday at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo. Newly appointed Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and opted to bowl first.

After losing the toss, Afghanistan were off to a sheaky start and lost their first wicket in the very first over. After that, Noor Ali Zadran and Rahmat Shah made 57 runs for the second wicket until Noor Ali Zadran was dismissed for 31 runs. After the dismissal of Noor Ali Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah added a 52-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Shahidi scored 17 runs. 1 run later, Nasir Jamal was clean-bowled for note. After 2 quick wickets, Rahmat Shah and Ikram Alikhil made a 45-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Sadeera Samarawickrama took an excellent catch to get rid of Rahmat Shah for 91 runs. After that, Afghanistan lost their next five wickets in 43 runs. Ikram Alikhil and Qais Ahmad scored 21 runs each. Eventually, Afghanistan bowled out 198 runs. For Sri Lanka, Vishwa Fernando claimed 4 wickets, while Prabath Jayasuriya and Asitha Fernando chipped in with 3 wickets each.

In reply to that, Sri Lanka were off to a solid start, and at the end of the day, both openers made an unbroken 80-run partnership. Dimuth Karunaratne scored an unbeaten 42 runs, while Nishan Madushka stayed out on 36 runs.