Watch: The Sri Lanka-Afghanistan match at the Asia Cup produced a finish for the ages, with the former edging a thriller by two runs to qualify for the Super Fours stage.
Looking at the scorecard, it was a close game, but Afghanistan were completely eliminated with no more than 12 overs left, so it would be confusing at first. But this match wasn’t really a 50-over match. Instead, 37.1 was Afghanistan’s key figure, or at least one of its key figures.
As Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh and Bangladesh Afghanistan, a win for Afghanistan would tie all three teams on two points and advance to net run percentage. As Sri Lanka scored 291 in the first innings, a look at the standings showed that if Afghanistan could reach the goal within 37.1 overs of hers, they would be guaranteed advancement.
Mohammad Nabi beat Afghanistan’s fastest ODI 50 to come from behind, while Rashid Khan and Najibullah Zadran continued to attack after the crash. The pair scored a free boundary, but in the first ball of 38 overs Mujib ur his Rahman down and at first it seemed like Afghanistan’s chances were wasted when he took three to win. It looked like
However, the netrun rate characteristics meant they still had a chance. If he ends the game with 4 or 6, he effectively had one or more extra deliveries by the time he finished the game.
After the match, it turned out that Afghanistan was unaware of this fact, and Fazalhaq explained Farooqi’s blocks and blocks instead of trying to find the ropes. It was Sri Lanka who secured victory when he was pinned in the pound.
Watch the best of a thrilling finish below:
Heartbreak for Afghanistan 💔
Ecstasy for Sri Lanka 🤩We experienced an absolute masterpiece that fans will remember for a long time 🫶
Briven Gee Dran Bay #AsiaCupOnStar |Star Sports Network#AFGvSL #cricket pic.twitter.com/K3Doje7OI5
– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) 5. September 2023
