4.6: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run.
07:26 PM (IST)
4.5: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, SIX! That sails away into the crowd!
07:25 PM (IST)
4.4: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, A beautiful seam presentation on a fuller length on off, Dhananjaya de Silva overhits it straight to the bowler with the bottom end of the blade.
07:25 PM (IST)
4.3: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Sadeera Samarawickrama, Off the mark. Around the wicket comes does Farooqi and pitches it on the short length outside off, Sadeera Samarawickrama punches it towards mid off and shoots off for a single. A direct hit there would have been curtains for Sadeera Samarawickrama here.
07:24 PM (IST)
4.2: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Sadeera Samarawickrama, On the back of a length and angling away outside off, Sadeera Samarawickrama punches it off the back foot to cover.
07:23 PM (IST)
Sadeera Samarawickrama walks out to bat next for Sri Lanka.
07:22 PM (IST)
4.1: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Kusal Mendis, OUT! TAKEN! Trying to be extra innovative costs Mendis his wicket here. Varies his pace seeing Mendis shuffling across off to ramp it does Fazalhaq Farooqi, he bowls a slower one outside off, Kusal Mendis is early on his shot and takes the leading edge that flies straight towards Azmatullah Omarzai stationed at short third man who makes no mistake to grab it. Kusal Mendis' frustrating stay at the crease ends. Fazalhaq Farooqi gets his second.
07:21 PM (IST)
3.6: Azmatullah Omarzai to Dhananjaya de Silva, Full and on the middle and leg channel, Dhananjaya de Silva defends it to the off side to end the over.
07:21 PM (IST)
3.5: Azmatullah Omarzai to Kusal Mendis, On the back of a length and outside off, Kusal Mendis square cuts it uppishly towards deep point for a single.
07:20 PM (IST)
3.4: Azmatullah Omarzai to Dhananjaya de Silva, Short and angles it away on a hard length, Dhananjaya de Silva cuts it to backward point for a single.
07:20 PM (IST)
3.3: Azmatullah Omarzai to Kusal Mendis, Back of a length outside off, Mendis works it to short third and runs a single.
07:19 PM (IST)
3.2: Azmatullah Omarzai to Kusal Mendis, SIX! Just for a fraction of time did Noor feel that he has got an opportunity to catch that but it sails away with the breeze. On the short length on the bodyline of Mendis, Kusal Mendis plays it close to the body and pulls it over square leg with no real timing on it but it sails away for a maximum.
07:18 PM (IST)
3.1: Azmatullah Omarzai to Kusal Mendis, Beauty! A little bit of movement right on for Omarzai. On a length and just around off, Kusal Mendis gets squared up to drive and the ball whispers the outside edge before carrying to the keeper.
07:18 PM (IST)
Azmatullah Omarzai comes into the attack.
07:17 PM (IST)
2.6: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Shot! On a fuller length on the stumps, Dhananjaya de Silva drills it with the inner half of the blade but it has enough steam to race away to the fence beating mid on.
07:17 PM (IST)
2.5: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, Slants it across off on a shade short length, Dhananjaya de Silva stands put and gets squared up. The ball flirts with his outside edge and carries well to the keeper. Almost identical to that of Nissanka's wicket.
07:14 PM (IST)
2.4: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Kusal Mendis, A nasty bumper on the bodyline of Mendis, Kusal Mendis looks to pull it hard over the leg side but it crashes into the grill of the helmet taking the inside edge and flies toward gully. They do run a leg-bye single. The physio is out in no time to check the mandatory concussion test. Kusal Perera exchanges his helmet and looks good to go.
07:14 PM (IST)
2.3: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, On the back of a length on the pads, Dhananjaya de Silva whips it off his hips towards deep square leg for a single.
07:13 PM (IST)
2.2: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, On a fuller length outside off, Dhananjaya de Silva places it towards deep point for a brace.
07:12 PM (IST)
2.1: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Kusal Mendis, In the air...and safe! On a shortish length on the stumps and angles across, Kusal Mendis miscues the pull shot hitting from the high end of the bat. The ball lands behind the mid-wicket fielder and they cross for a single. Kusal got a bit cramped up for room as he played it way too close to the body and also got beaten with the extra pace.
07:11 PM (IST)
1.6: Naveen-ul-Haq to Kusal Mendis, Off the mark in an edgy way! The breeze helps the ball to sneak further into the batter from off on a length, Kusal Mendis prods ahead to drive and inside edges towards square leg for a single to open his account.
07:10 PM (IST)
1.5: Naveen-ul-Haq to Dhananjaya de Silva, Almost chopped on! Angles it further in and quicker on the middle stump line, Dhananjaya de Silva looks to defend but inside edges it towards widish short fine leg for a single.
07:09 PM (IST)
1.4: Naveen-ul-Haq to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Wow, he didn't get the first two right but makes it correct this time! On a length and just shade outside off, Dhananjaya de Silva gets in line of the ball and extends his arms before lofting it over mid off for a boundary. Good timing on that one by de Silva.
07:09 PM (IST)
1.3: Naveen-ul-Haq to Dhananjaya de Silva, Angles it in but keeps it outside off on a fuller length, Dhananjaya de Silva looks to drive it through covers but ends up slashing it over point for a couple of runs. Qais Ahmad in the deep does well with the dive and restricts it to just two.
07:08 PM (IST)
1.2: Naveen-ul-Haq to Dhananjaya de Silva, Full and outside off which angles into the batter, Dhananjaya de Silva drives it through the cover-point gap for a couple of runs.
07:07 PM (IST)
1.1: Naveen-ul-Haq to Dhananjaya de Silva, On a length and outside off, Dhananjaya de Silva drives it straight to the cover fielder.
07:06 PM (IST)
Naveen-ul-Haq to share the new ball from the other end.
07:06 PM (IST)
0.6: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, On the back of a length on pads, Dhananjaya de Silva flicks it to backward square leg for a single to get off the mark.
07:05 PM (IST)
0.5: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Dhananjaya de Silva, Fuller in length on the off stump line, Dhananjaya de Silva drives it back to the bowler.
07:04 PM (IST)
Dhananjaya de Silva walks out to bat at number 3 for Sri Lanka.
07:03 PM (IST)
0.4: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Pathum Nissanka, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! A fantastic catch by Gurbaz to remove the man in-form Pathum Nissanka. Afghanistan get their first wicket in the very first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi bowls it wide outside off and invites Pathum Nissanka to poke at it on a length which nips wildly away from the batter, Pathum Nissanka does try to slash it off throwing his hands at it with no footwork at all and it takes the outside edge. Rahmanullah Gurbaz takes a brilliant catch diving to his right. The third Umpire checks and confirms that Gurbaz has taken a clean catch. A big wicket early on.
07:03 PM (IST)
0.4: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Pathum Nissanka, WIDE! Back of a length down leg. Wided.
07:01 PM (IST)
0.3: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! The man in-form hits the first boundary. Farooqui bowls it on the leg stump line on a good length, Pathum Nissanka whips it off his hips towards deep fine leg for a boundary. A good effort from Naveen but all in vain.
07:01 PM (IST)
0.2: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Pathum Nissanka, Across off and on a length now, Pathum Nissanka dabs it to deep backward point for a double. Sri Lanka and Nissanka are underway.
07:00 PM (IST)
0.1: Fazalhaq Farooqi to Pathum Nissanka, Starts off right on the money from over the wicket. A little bit of inswing from the middle stump line on a fuller length, Pathum Nissanka presents the full face of the bat and drives it to the mid on fielder.
06:57 PM (IST)
We are done with the pre-match formalities and it's now time to let the action begin at Dambulla. The two Umpires are out in the middle and the fielders of Afghanistan stroll out before spreading to their respective field positions. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis are the two openers for Sri Lanka and it will be Fazalhaq Farooqi to bowl the first over of the first T20I for Afghanistan. Let's play...
06:56 PM (IST)
The teams have lined up for their respective national anthems. It will be Afghanistan's anthem first and Sri Lanka's anthem will follow next.
06:54 PM (IST)
PITCH REPORT - Tino Mawayo is down for the pitch report and says it is 24 degrees and there is a lovely flow of breeze across the stadium. He adds that there is a nice grass cover which is thin and dry and might not help the seamers a lot and the few cracks might cause the ball to misbehave a bit later on. He concludes that it looks like a nice batting deck and the bowlers will have to bowl well later on.
06:52 PM (IST)
Wanindu Hasaranga says they would have bowled first too but they have a well-balanced team and it won't matter a lot. He adds that they have played 3 good games and will look to do the same. He concludes that Binura Fernando and Matheesha Pathirana come into the squad.
06:51 PM (IST)
Ibrahim Zadran, the skipper of Afghanistan won the toss and chose to BOWL first. He says that they have little idea about the wicket so it's safe to bowl first. Says no new guys in the team, the boys have been playing different leagues but now they are back.
06:44 PM (IST)
Afghanistan (Playing XI) - Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran (C), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq.
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