ICC World T20: Not a walk in the garden for Sri Lanka against Afghanistan
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s unbeaten 83 guided Sri Lanka to a comfortable win in the end. (Source:PTI)
Around noon, three Indian cricketers – Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Pawan Negi – turned up at Eden Gardens for an optional practice session. Their arrival was greeted with a loud roar from a group of people in pathani suits. The local Afghanis were looking for tickets for tonight’s game and had bumped into the Indian stars.
As evening approached, numbers swelled. And when Asghar Stanikzai walked in for the toss, lots of Afghanistan national flags were visible inside the stadium. Cricket proved to be a pleasant detour for the Afghan expats in Kolkata and they had been cheerful throughout — even in a six-wicket defeat with seven balls to spare. The minnows, guided by their defiant skipper, gave a good account of themselves in their World T20 opening game. In the end, however, Sri Lanka were a little too strong.
With Lasith Malinga still nursing an injured knee, this Sri Lankan team is heavily dependent on Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews. The former’s ordinary batting form has had been a reason for Sri Lanka’s recent travails. Dilshan had reached fifty only once in his last eight T20 international innings. His 75 not out against Pakistan in a dead rubber in the Asia Cup turned out to be futile. On Thursday, his 56-ball 83 not out secured an important win for Sri Lanka.
Before that, however, Stanikzai’s lone-ranger for Afghanistan won the hearts of about 15,000 fans at Eden Gardens.
The pitch was a bit on the slower side. Odd ball turned as well. Stanikzai read it right as he chose to bat first after winning the toss. But Afghanistan’s start had been shaky. Only 36 runs came in the power-play overs for the loss of Mohammad Shahzad’s wicket. The opener fell prey to an ugly heave off a Mathew’s outswinger. Stanikzai came at No.3 and took time to get into the groove.
But this is how he plays. He had made a stellar 90 not out in Afghanistan’s win over Bangladesh in the 2014 Asia Cup. His first 37 runs in that innings came from 73 balls without a boundary. He scored his next 53 runs in 30 deliveries with six fours and three sixes. Here also, his team had been tottering on 59/4 after 12 overs, when Stanikzai decided to take the attack to the opposition. A six over the deep mid-wicket off Milinda Siriwardana got him going. A massive hit over the straight boundary in the next ball got the fans on their feet.
Rangana Herath, too, was attacked with irreverence. Stanikzai was a touch lucky as his first six against the veteran left-arm spinner was palmed by Lahiru Thirimanne — a relatively easy chance went over the rope. But his next hit off the same bowler had a touch of contempt — down on his knee and a flat-batted thud.
He got another life on 44, when Mathews dropped him at cover off Nuwan Kulasekara. And Stanikzai celebrated it by hitting four to reach his third T20 international half-century. Stanikzai’s final acts of aggression were a six — his version of helicopter — and a four off Thisara Perera before he spooned a catch behind the stumps to be dismissed for 62.
But by then, Afghanistan had recovered well. They scored 59 runs in the last five overs to finish at 153 for 7. They had a decent total on the board to put the opponents under pressure. And they did it by bowling their spinners, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, in tandem in the middle-overs. But Dilshan was there to negate the danger. After a long time, the 39-year-old was in his element. Afghanistan had opened with off-spinner Karim Sadiq and Dinesh Chandimal straightaway clattered him for a four and six.
Dilshan, on the other hand, was a little watchful against seamer Hamid Hassan but opened his shoulders as Dawlat Zadran was introduced. A length ball was pulled over deep square leg boundary followed by a ‘Dilscoop’ for another six. Hassan was taken care of with back-to-back fours in the next over but Sri Lanka got stuck a bit after five overs, losing Chandimal, Thirimanne and Perera. They still needed 41 runs off 29 balls, when Nabi deflected a straight drive from Dilshan onto the stumps at non-striker’s end to get rid of Chamara Kapugedera. But Afghanistan failed to tighten the noose because of their poor fielding.
Dilshan had been gifted a boundary. Mathews, after a couple of failed attempts, hit a six and a four off Khan. He then took on Zadran and hit two more boundaries. But it was befitting that Dilshan played the winning stroke – a flick to the mid-wicket fence off Hassan.