ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Group 1, Brisbane
Afghanistan 144-8 (20 overs): Garbaz 28 (24); Hasringa 3-13
Sri Lanka 148-4 (18.3 overs): De Silva 66* (42); Mujeeb 2-24
Sri Lanka won by six wickets.
Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by six wickets to keep their semi-final hopes alive in the Men’s T20 World Cup in Brisbane.
Spinner Venindu Hasaranga took 3-13 as Sri Lanka restricted Afghanistan to 144-8 despite another poor fielding performance.
Dhananjaya De Silva’s unbeaten 66 then took Sri Lanka to their target with nine balls to spare at the Gabba.
Afghanistan, who were washed out in their last two matches, are out.
Sri Lanka will have to beat England and Afghanistan will have to beat Australia to reach the semi-finals.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Afghanistan openers Rehmanullah Garbaz and Usman Ghani added 42 runs for the first wicket as they took advantage of some loose bowling and fielding errors.
But Hasringa’s introduction changed the course of the game as he applied pressure and did not concede a boundary in four overs.
It was a total of less than one and Sri Lanka made light work of the chase on a pitch with big boundaries.
De Silva calmed nerves after the early fall of opener Pathum Nissanka, batting calmly to eliminate the threat from Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeebur Rahman, who claimed two wickets each.
But there are concerns ahead of their final game for Afghanistan as Rashid Khan limped off with a leg injury at the end of Sri Lanka’s chase.
Afghanistan take on Australia on Friday in Adelaide at 08:00 GMT, while Sri Lanka take on England in Sydney on Saturday at 08:00.
