Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Match 1 Super 4 Asia Cup 2022, Stats Review: Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s feat, Charith Asalanka’s slump in form, and other stats

Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s whirlwind innings of 84 off 45 which included four fours and six maximums went in vain as Sri Lanka registered a solid four-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Match 1 of the Super 4 round in the Asia Cup 2022. Four Sri Lanka batters scored above 30 runs each as they chased down the target of 176 with five balls to spare. With this victory, the Island nation also achieved the highest successful run-chase in T20 internationals in Sharjah.

Speaking about how the encounter went by, captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to field first. Hazratullah Zazai managed to score only 13 while his opening partner Gurbaz kept on striking big. Ibrahim Zadran made 40 off 38 as Afghanistan reached a total of 175/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Pace bowler Dilshan Madushanka was the pick of the Lankan bowlers for his spell of 2/37 in four overs.

Chasing 176, openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis amassed 35 and 36 runs respectively. Charith Asalanka bagged his third successive single-digit score of the tournament as he got dismissed for just eight. Danushka Gunathilaka found some T20 form as he scored a quickfire 33 off 20 with two fours and as many maximums.

But it was Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s cameo of 31 off just 14 that took the game away from the Afghans. With this, Sri Lanka opened their account in the Super 4 round. For his brilliant knock which ended on a losing side, Rahmanullah Gurbaz won the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match 1 in Super 4 between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022:

 84 - Rahmanullah Gurbaz registered his second-highest score of 84 in T20 internationals. His best score is 87 which came against Zimbabwe in the year 2021.

4 – Gurbaz also recorded the fourth-highest individual score of 84 in T20Is in Sharjah. Mohammad Shahzad’s 118* against Zimbabwe in 2016, Jos Buttler’s 101* against Sri Lanka in 2021, and Rassie van der Dussen’s 94* against England in 2021 are in the top three spots.

100 – Najibullah Zadran completed 100 fours in T20 internationals. The hard-hitting left-handed batter also reached 150 maximums across formats.

9 – Charith Asalanka has now scored just nine runs in three innings at an average of 3.00 with three single-digit scores in Asia Cup 2022.

179/6 – Sri Lanka scripted the highest successful run-chase of 179/6 against Afghanistan in the shortest international format. The previous highest of 171/3 was by Ireland in this year itself.

22 – Gurbaz scripted the joint-second fastest fifty in 22 deliveries for Afghanistan in T20 internationals. Najibullah Zadran smashed it twice against UAE and Zimbabwe in 2016 and 2019 respectively. Hazratullah Zazai is also tied in the second spot for his fifty against Ireland in 2018. Mohammad Nabi tops the chart for hitting it in 21 balls against Ireland in 2017.

7 – For the first time in seven innings, Danushka Gunathilaka crossed the 30-run mark.

100 – Kusal Mendis reached 100 maximums in international cricket.

179/6 – Sri Lanka registered the highest successful run-chase of 179/6 in T20Is in Sharjah. The previous highest of 172/5 was also by Sri Lanka which came against Bangladesh in T20 World Cup in 2021.