Asia Cup 2018: It Was A Shocking Performance By The Whole Team: Angelo Mathews

Afghanistan piled more misery on Sri Lanka as they dumped them out of the Asia Cup with an impressive 91-run win.

Unlike the game against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka could not make early inroads against Afghanistan.  Lasith Malinga and Dushmantha Chameera bowled well but had little purchase from the track as Afghanistan crossed the 50-run mark inside 11 overs.

Akila Dananjaya then gave Sri Lanka the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing Mohammad Shahzad to end the 57-run first-wicket stand.  But Ihsanullah Janat and Rahmat added 50 for the second wicket to keep Afghanistan on track for a good total. Afghanistan lost Janat and Rahmat in quick succession but Rahmat and Hashmatullah Shahidi added 80 runs to bring the inning back on track.

Mohammad Nabi then took the mantle on himself to paint the final touches but could only muster 15 from 12 balls. In the end, Afghanistan were helped by a few lusty blows from Rashid Khan and Aftab Alam, pushing their score to 249. While Thisara Perera picked up a fifer Malinga ended up conceding 66 in his set of 10 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka showed little improvement after being bowled out for 124 in their first game. Kusal Mendis was out for a duck again as  Sri Lankan batsmen came up a cropper once again. Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews as well as Thisara Perera got the start but could not convert them. As a result, the Islanders were all out for just 158.

Speaking after the game, Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews could not hide his disappointmenet as he admitted Afghanistan outplayed his side in all departments.

“It was a shocking performance by the whole team. Even in the first game, we could not breach 150 but congratulations to Afghanistan. They outplayed us in all the three departments. The whole batting line-up let us down in both the matches. Chasing 250, bowlers did their part in the first game as well as in this game. We were off to a bad start while batting but we repaired a little bit for the second wicket,” he said at the presentation ceremony.

“We once again lost our way in the middle overs and we didn’t have answers. I thought the bowers did well, in fielding we were better than the last game. It was just the batting unit to be blamed. It is shocking. We played better cricket against South Africa towards the latter part of the series. It is very disappointing to see how the boys went about things, in the first game as well as in the this game. We repeated the mistakes, we just couldn’t handle pressure and we were no where near our good performance. Handling pressures was crucial, failing to cross 150 in both the matches is very shocking and disappointing,” he added.