PALLEKELE: On Wednesday at Pallekele, Sri Lanka easily defeated the visitors in the last game of the three-match ODI tournament versus Afghanistan by seven wickets.
Pathum Nissanka, the opening batsman for the hosts, scored his sixth One-Day International hundred and the second of the series.
In three ODIs versus Zimbabwe in 1994, Roshan Mahanama had scored 267 runs, but Nissanka’s performance is now by far the greatest.
In the globe, it is also the fourth-highest total in a three-match series.
Nissanka became the first Sri Lankan player to reach a double hundred in an ODI match after posting an undefeated 210 in the opening match.
In just 52 innings, he broke Upul Tharanga’s record of 63 innings to become the fastest Sri Lankan to reach the 2,000 ODI runs milestone.
With the openers scoring 173 runs for the first wicket in just 138 deliveries, Sri Lanka easily reached the mark.
With back-to-back sixes off Fareed Ahmad, Avishka Fernando set the tone for the run chase, achieving his half-century in just 24 balls.
However, he gave up his wicket when nine runs from a century were still in reach, and his 91 came off 66 balls with 10 fours and five massive sixes.
Nissanka was comparatively slow off the bat, achieving his fifty in fifty-five balls, but Afghanistan’s bowlers ran out of ideas and the following fifty arrived in thirty-four balls.
Captain Kusal Mendis joined the celebration, hitting four sixes and sprinting to 40 off 29 balls.
With just 14 runs required to win, Nissanka was bowled out for 118. He smashed two sixes and sixteen fours out of 101 balls faced.
Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the two veteran spinners who are out with injuries, were sorely missed by the tourists.
Afghanistan chose to bat first, but their performance was not impressive, particularly given their innings-ending collapse.
With the score at 223 for four going into the final ten overs, a total well over 300 looked likely.
However, they were bowled out in less than 50 overs after losing the final six wickets for just 43 runs.
Afghanistan had a strong foundation thanks to half-centuries scored by Rahmat Shah (65 years old) and Azmatullah Omarzai (54 years old), but the middle order fell apart without resistance.
With three wickets to his name, Pramod Madushan of Sri Lanka was the most effective bowler; Asitha Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, and Akila Dananjaya each finished with two wickets.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
