Sri Lankan cricketer Thisara Perera (R) celebrates with captain Angelo Mathews (L) after he dismissed Afghan batsman Najibullah Zadran during the one day international (ODI) Asia Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 17, 2018. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera (R) celebrates with captain Angelo Mathews after dismissing Afghanistan batsman Najibullah Zadran during the Asia Cup match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Rahmat Shah top-scored with a composed 72 before Perera’s five-wicket haul helped Sri Lanka bowl out Afghanistan for 249. Perera returned figures of 5-55 as Sri Lanka picked up seven wickets in the last eight overs of Afghanistan innings on a pitch that looked to be on the slower side.
Off-spinner Akila returned with tidy figures of 2-37 in his 10-over spell.