The entire cricket world has experienced another thrilling showdown. Sri Lanka was facing Afghanistan at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. The clash was equally important for both teams. Sri Lanka was facing failures. Afghanistan is new to the tournament. They are playing good cricket from the start of the tournament. They won a few matches with a good margin. In this match, Afghan bowlers performed well. Fazalhaq Farooqi was declared as the man of the match for excellent performance.
Farooqi’s Words:
It was an interesting clash between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. As the qualifying time is coming near, this match was important for both teams. Afghan bowlers were outstanding against Sri Lanka. They dominated Sri Lanka till the very first. All the bowlers played well but Fazalhaq Farooqi shines the brightest. He was announced as the Man of the Match.
After the match, he shared his thoughts in the prize-giving ceremony. He said, “ Thanks to the Almighty, nice to have 3 wins in this tournament, happy to have contributed to the team win. I was looking for a swing with the new ball, but I didn’t get it, so I just kept it simple, hit the right areas, didn’t want to concede boundaries and that’s how I succeeded. We conceded too many runs in the last few overs (in the previous matches), we put in the hard yards in the nets, bowling with accuracy, and trying out as many variations as possible. That’s exactly what we went out and did in the match today.”
Clinical Performance by Afghanistan:
It was a perfect masterclass by the Afghanistan team. Initially, Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bowl first. While bowling in the first innings, the Sri Lankan batting lineup was dominated by the Afghan bowlers. Sri Lankan batters were not able to make an impactful partnership against Afghanistan bowlers. Fazalhaq Farooqi played instead of Noor Ahmed. He picked up 4 wickets in 34 runs. Mujeeb ur Rahman took 2 wickets in 38 runs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan took 1 wicket each.
Even in the second innings, Afghan batters were outstanding. Rahmanullah Gurbaz got out quickly. Ibrahim Zadran scored 39 runs in 57 runs. Rahmat Shah played an amazing knock of 62 runs in 74 balls. Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi led the team from the front. He remained not out on 58 runs in 74 balls. Azmatullah Omarzai remained unbeaten on 73 runs in 63 balls. They won the 7 wickets. They are fighting hard to finish the tournament in a good spot.
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