Mohammad Nabi, the captain of Afghanistan, warned on Saturday that his team will not be taken lightly in the Asia Cup Twenty20 competition following a thumping eight-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the opening game.
Fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi helped restrict Sri Lanka to a meagre 105, which their batsmen in Dubai overpowered in 10.1 overs, with statistics of 3-11.
To continue the dominance begun by the bowlers, left-hander Hazratullah Zazai, who is unbeaten on 37, and wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanllah Gurbaz, who scored 40 runs off 18 balls, added 83 runs for the first wicket.Afghanistan has had a strong start to their campaign in the six-nation competition that serves as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. They are in Group B with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
There are no victories over rival teams. When asked about Afghanistan pulling off unexpected victories, Nabi responded, “We have properly prepared for this event. We arrived early, put in a lot of effort, and tried to adjust.
Afghanistan has advanced significantly in international cricket after receiving Test status in 2017 and playing their first five-day match against India a year later.”We came here to compete like a legitimate Test nation. We are not here to take part then leave. We will compete on fields that play to our abilities, Nabi declared.
“We want to go to the Super 4 and make it difficult for the competing teams.”
Nabi credited the batting, with Gurbaz giving the squad a furious start with his opening blitz to tear through the Sri Lankan attack, as well as the bowling, led by Farooqi.
He praised the “excellent” bowling and batting.After striking with consecutive deliveries in the opening over of the game to send Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka trudging back to the pavilion for two and nought, Farooqi, a left-arm fast, stood out for Afghanistan.
Then Pathum was sent back by Naveen-ul-Haq. The third-umpire confirmed the verdict after the batsman reviewed the on-field ruling even though there was no obvious spike on the ultra-edge, leaving the batsman and dressing room in disbelief. Nissanka was then caught behind.
Dasun Shanaka, the captain of Sri Lanka, said, “With this technology and all, in my opinion that’s not out”; his counterpart Nabi expressed a similar stance during the post-match press conference.
