Faulty counting triggers Afghanan’s exit; Sri Lanka alive in Asia Cup | Cricket News

Rashid Khan buried his face in his hands as Mujeeb Ur Rahman holed out to long on where Sadeera Samarawickrama took the offering and tumbled on to the ground off the first ball of the 38th over. In the Afghanan dressing room, they looked inconsolable. Needing three more runs in pursuit of 291/8, they had to get there in 37.1 overs to make it to the Super 4’s stage at the expense of Sri Lanka. It looked all but over. But only it didn’t. There was still plenty of life in it. But only somebody forgot to tell the Afghans. Their head coach Jonathan Trott, who sat for a major part of the last few overs chewing his nails, should have done better.
With a wicket still in hand, had they got to 295 in 37.4 overs, they could have still boarded the flight from Lahore to Colombo to play the Super 4s. It was a schoolboy mathematical error: to qualify, they needed six runs off four deliveries and though they had only one wicket in hand, with Rashid batting on 27 of 16 deliveries, it was very much in their limits. Instead, their eyes and mind didn’t look beyond the target which at that stage was three runs of one delivery. Had they managed to get two runs off the first ball of the 38th over, they would have got three more balls to get six runs.

It was such a thin margin which decided Sri Lanka’s passage to the Super 4 stage, where they will be joined Bangladesh from Group B.Most Read
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The Asia Cup, having seen a few damp squibs over the past few days in Pallekele, came alive in Lahore. It was perhaps the sort of contest that was needed, where the emotions overflowed in the dressing rooms and in the stands of the Gaddafi Stadium. It was a game which Sri Lanka could have very much ended up on the losing side had Afghanan did better homework before they began their chase. Only Mark Boucher’s decision to defend Muttiah Muralitharan with one run needed (DLS) when the heavens opened up in Durban during the 2003 World Cup comes close to the silly mathematical error that Afghanan endured.

From the moment Sri Lanka, riding on Kusal Mendis 92 off 84 deliveries, put 291/8, the game was heading for grand finish. In the previous match against Bangladesh, chasing 335 Afghanan had started on a resounding note before running out of steam. So with big hitters in their ranks, who are all capable of pulling off hes, even a required run-rate of 7.83 didn’t look all that daunting. After all, it was about two T20 innings, put together.
In that sense, Sri Lanka were really fortunate to get out of jail, for they could have gone home and not been part of the party on their own shores. It was an evening where they badly wanted Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana to come good, but Afghanan even with a required run-rate of over 7, were prepared to score at 6 an over off them and target those around them. As a result, Kasun Rajitha conceded 79 off 10 overs, Dasun Shanka 32 in two overs, Dunith Wellalage 36 in four overs. At one stage, Afghanan’s chase appeared to stumble, similar to what had transpired against Bangladesh. Having lost four wickets for 121 runs in 18.4 overs, it was captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (59 off 66) and Mohammad Nabi (65 off 32) who brought them back into the game stitching together a 80-run partnership off 47 deliveries. Until a mathematical error did them in.