Sri Lankan cricketer Thisara Perera (L) celebrates with teammates after he dismissed Afghan batsman Mujeeb Ur Rahman (unseen) 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) In a dramatic encounter at Asia Cup 2018, Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by 91 runs and knocked the latter out of the tournament. Sri Lanka earlier lost to Bangladesh, and after losing the consecutive match yesterday, they are out of the tournament.
This could not go well with the global cricket audience, who could not see the five time Asia Cup champion getting out of the tournament so easily. Sri Lanka is among the strongest team in Asia Cup, and they have much more experience in international cricket than Afghanistan. Yet, they were easily outclassed by Afghan bowlers who bowled out them at the score of 158, while chasing 250. Twitter users roasted the Sri Lankan team on social media over their poor performance in the Asia Cup 2018. Have a look at some of the tweets.
Five time champions Sri Lanka are out of the #AsiaCup2018 even before one of the participating side (India) have played their first match. This is quite a unique situation in an international tournament!#AsiaCup#SLvAFG #AFGvSL
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 17, 2018
Over The Years, Improvement In Afghanistan Team Is Directly Proportional To Deterioration In Sri Lankan Team. #SLvAFG #AFGvSL #AsiaCup18
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) September 17, 2018
Angelo Mathews in running between the wickets 👇😂 #AngeloMathews #SLvAFG #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/fsr8WtOWGa
— Madam Jadeja (Come On India)🙏🇮🇳 (@madam_jadeja) September 17, 2018
Bangladesh and Afghanistan have replaced SriLanka and Pakistan as the cricketing forces of Subcontinent along with India#SLvAFG
— Ijas Ah’md (@Ijas_7) September 17, 2018
Russel Arnold’s Team Should Better Play Qualifiers With China And Nepal Before Coming Into #AsiaCup. #SLvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) September 17, 2018
Will Afghanistan beating Sri Lanka be called an upset? #SLvAFG #AsiaCup @StarSportsIndia
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 17, 2018
One point to Note- Sri Lankan players do not play in the IPL and hence may not have tactical game plans against such high quality mystery spinners. #SLvAfg
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) September 17, 2018
Not sure whether Sri Lanka placed in tough group or Afghanistan placed in easier group. #SLvAFG
— Usman Khan Shinwari (@UsmanKhShinwari) September 17, 2018
Sri Lankan’s fans right now…😂#SLvAFG pic.twitter.com/W1JfsfIZb9
— Rahul (@iamRahul22) September 17, 2018
Afghanistan elected to bat first after winning the toss. With the half-century of Rehmat Shah (72), the team was able to put a commendable total of 249. The openers Mohammad Shahzad and Ihsanullah Janat also gave a great support with 34 and 45 respectively. Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera (5/55) managed to trigger a mini collapse of sort but by then the Afghans had neared the 250-run mark towards the end of their innings.
In reply, the Islanders once again faltered with their batting and lost their first wicket in the opening over itself with teenage off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/32) packing back Kusal Mendis for a duck. Upul Tharanga (36) and Dhananjaya de Silva (23) put on a brave show to weather the storm with a 54-run second wicket stand before being separated, courtesy a silly run-out of the latter.
Thereafter, wickets began to tumble one after the other as the Sri Lankans slipped from a comfortable 86/2 to lose half their side with just 108 runs from 27 overs. Skipper Angelo Matthews (22) and Thisara Perera (28) managed to get decent starts but the loss of partners at regular intervals dented their hopes, even as the Afghan spinners led by leggie Rashid Khan (2/26) kept dominating the proceedings. Eventually, Sri Lankan team collapsed at the score of 158, losing the match by 91 runs.