Images from the ICC World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, in Pune, on Monday.
Rahmat Shah, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai slammed well-timed half-centuries to complement a superb bowling effort of pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi as Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the ICC World Cup match, at the MCA International Stadium in Pune, on Monday.
Chasing 242 for victory, Afghanistan went past the target in 45.2 overs for the loss of three wickets.
A 111-run partnership between Shahidi (58 not out) and Azmatullah (73 not out) for the unbroken fourth wicket stand formed the cornerstone of the big win, their third in this tournament.
The result also helped them climb to fifth place on the table with six points and with three more matches remaining the Afghans’ dream of making the semi-finals is alive.
Sri Lanka remain on sixth spot with four points from six matches.
Following their breathtaking performances against England and Pakistan, Afghanistan went into the match against Sri Lanka as slight favourites and pacer Farooqi made a huge statement by unleashing his full fury to grab four wickets for 34 runs and demolish the Islanders for 241 runs.
Rahmat (62), Shahidi and Azmatullah then played with determination to help their side reach the target.
Despite the early dismissal of his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz, dismissed by left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka for a duck, Ibrahim Zadran (39) steadied the innings during a 72-run second wicket stand with Rahmat.
The dangerous Madushanka troubled Afghanistan with a superb display of swing bowling and gave his side the perfect start when his inswinger crashed into the middle-stump of dangerous opener Gurbaz.
The battle-hardened Afghanistan though were not overly rattled by the early shock and kept dispatching the loose deliveries to the ropes, though most of their runs came in singles and twos.
Zadran and No. 3 Rahmat began the rebuilding process, sewing up a half-century partnership, which saw the team overcoming the early jolt.
Zadran was the more aggressive of the two and made his intentions clear when he dispatched Madushanka for a sweetly-timed boundary through the covers in the third over.
A quality back-foot drive off all-rounder Angelo Mathews through extra cover in the seventh over had class written all over it.
Dushmantha Chameera, brought into the side as a replacement for the injured Lahiru Kumara, tried to extract pace from the wicket but Zadran was in sublime form as he whipped one from the paceman to deep square leg with some lovely wrist work.
Chameera and spinner Maheesh Theekshana managed to slow down Afghanistan's chase between the 11th and 16th overs by not conceding a single boundary.
As the pressure began to build, Madushanka dug in a bouncer which rose sharply and flew from Zadran's bat to deep third man, where Dimuth Karunaratne pouched it easily.
Rahmat and Shahidi then put their heads together to do the repair job, with the former doing the bulk of the scoring in the 58-run stand for the third wicket.
Luck ran out for Rahmat soon after he had completed his 25th ODI half-century.
After the batting stalwart was grassed at backward point by Sadeera Samarawickrama off the previous delivery from Kasun Rajitha in the 28th over, Rahmat ended up getting a leading edge that popped up to Karunaratne at mid-on.
However, Shahidi and Omarzai's partnership saw Afghanistan achieve another memorable victory in the World Cup.
Earlier, pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi made a huge statement by unleashing his full fury to grab four wickets as underwhelming Sri Lanka batters struggled to a below-par 241 all out on an easy-paced pitch in a crucial World Cup match in Pune on Monday.
While left-armer Farooqi's (4/34) fiery pace made life difficult for the Lankans, Afghanistan spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/38) and Rashid Khan (1/50) showed the right intent and energy to create pressure and restrict in-form batters like Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama.
After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka’s batting never got going as Farooqi, Mujeeb and Rashid, playing his 100th ODI, bowled tight lengths and varied pace despite them getting little assistance from the MCA Stadium surface that played true through the 50 overs.
While opener Nissanka batted with confidence and kept the scoreboard ticking, wasting no opportunity to take singles and twos while scoring an occasional boundary, his partner Dimuth Karunaratne, who replaced Kusal Perera in the playing eleven, looked tentative and missed the line on a few occasions.
Karunaratne was finally done in by a Farooqi delivery that darted in and led to a vociferous lbw appeal.
Though the umpire wasn't convinced, the review indicated otherwise and Karunaratne walked back with the score reading 22 for 1.
Nissanka though continued from where he had left off against England, where he had scored a polished unbeaten 77. But the aggression seemed missing on the day as he dealt mostly in ones and twos with skipper Kusal Mendis.
Nissanka's boundary off pacer Naveen-ul-Haq in the 13th over had class written all over it as he freed his arms to a short-of-length delivery to place it behind the point.
But just when Nissanka, one of the most consistent Sri Lankan batters in the tournament, was eyeing his fifth half-century, pacer Azmat Omarzai got the prized wicket.
Nissanka tried to play a back of length delivery outside off from Omarzai towards backward point but the ball took the thinnest of edges en route wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The Lankan was in two minds and decided to take the DRS, but by the time he signalled to the TV umpire, the timer had already stopped and a dejected Nissanka walked back having scored 46 off 60 deliveries.
The 62-run partnership between him and Mendis though took Sri Lanka to 82 for 2.
At the half-way mark, Sri Lanka were still showing signs of progress though the scoring rate never crossed the five-run per over mark.
With Afghanistan spinners being pressed into service from both ends, Samarawickrama, who came in at the fall of Nissanka, and Mendis were literally kept under a tight leash.
In his effort to up the scoring rate, Mendis tried a big shot, but he was caught at deep midwicket by Najibullah Zadran off Mujeeb for 39.
If 134/3 in the 28th over wasn't bad, Mujeeb struck again to get rid of the dangerous Samarawickrama for 36 off the first ball of the 30th over to reduce the Islanders to 139 for 4.
The century-maker against Pakistan, Samarawickrama, who has had a brilliant World Cup so far, was flummoxed by a Mujeeb googly which drifted in sharply and trapped him plumb in front.
Wickets kept falling at regular intervals with Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dushmantha Chameera all failing to play an innings of substance as the Lankan innings folded rapidly.
