Sri Lanka and Afghanistan held a run festival in Pallekele. After Pathum Nisanka’s record innings, Sri Lanka’s bowling was difficult for the Afghans. But they turned around in the record pair of Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai. The visitors did not give up easily with the target of 382 runs. Afghanistan lost by fighting.
Batting earlier, Sri Lanka scored 381 runs for 3 wickets on Nisanka’s unbeaten double century. In reply, Afghanistan scored 339 runs for 6 wickets. Lankans won by 42 runs.
Crossing three hundred for Afghanistan was unthinkable. They lost 5 wickets in the ninth over by Pramod Madushan. After half the team’s batters returned to the pavilion within 55 runs, when defeat was a matter of time, Nabi and Omarzai stood up. The sixth wicket stand came to an end in the 46th over.
These two made a record partnership of 242 runs for the sixth wicket for Afghanistan. Nabi scored 136 runs off 130 balls with 15 fours and 3 sixes. After his second ODI century, he stopped playing a career-best innings.
Like Nabi, Omarzai scored his highest run in ODIs. He scored 149 runs off 115 balls with 13 fours and 6 sixes. The middle order batsman was unbeaten in the end.
Madushan took maximum four wickets.
The turnaround duo of Nabi-Omarzai could not surpass Nissanka’s feat. The Lankan opener, who scored a hundred off 88 balls, scored the third fastest double century in 136 balls. Nisanka became Sri Lanka’s highest innings, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya’s 189 against India in 2000. The first Lankan double centurion set another record, surpassing Jayasuriya. He scored 210 runs off 139 balls with 20 fours and 8 sixes, meaning 128 runs came from the boundary. Nyanka has surpassed Jayasuriya (110) in the feat of scoring the most runs from boundaries in an innings in a Sri Lankan jersey.
Avishka Fernando played a role in building Sri Lanka’s run mountain by scoring 88 runs. Besides, Sadira Samaravikrama’s 45 runs is also noteworthy.
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