‌SL vs AFG | Twitter reacts to Matthews all-round prowess as Sri Lanka seal series with massive triumph

02/19/2024

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Sri Lanka take an unassaisable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan as Sadeera Samarawickrama and Angelo Mathews steered them to an above-par total. New ball spells from Binura Fernando and Mathews paved the way for an Afghan collapse as Sri Lanka seal the series.

Following a close-fought loss in the first T20I, captain Ibrahim Zadran sent the home side to bat first after winning the coin flip. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis offered a brisk start against the Afghan new ball duo of Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai, scoring 45 runs opening stand before they fled back to the hut in a space of three deliveries. Having scored 55 runs inside the powerplay, Dhananjaya de Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama added 41 runs together before the former was outwitted by Mohammad Nabi midway through the innings. It was followed by Wanindu Hasaranga’s 9-ball 22 cameo before Nabi and Omarzai peg back to reduce the Lankans to 122/5 in 15 overs. However, the experience of Angelo Mathews (42*) came in handy for them as he consolidated a 66-run sixth wicket stand with Samarawickrama (51) to steer them to 187/6 in 20 overs.

Unlike the counterparts, the Afghanistan side suffered early jitters as Angelo Mathews and Binura Fernando wreaked havoc in their batting order by extracting five wickets inside the powerplay for just 40 runs. Although Nabi and Karim Janat tried to soak the pressure and ease off the scenario, they failed to convert their mid-twenties as Dasun Shanaka broke the 39-run sixth wicket stand. Eventually, Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana bagged a couple of wickets each to clear the tail in a space of 22 deliveries to bundle them at 110.

Taking lead

SL taking a lead in T20 series#SLvsAFG #PSL2024 #PSL9 #PSL9Updates #HBLPSL9 #HBLPSL2024 #HBLPSL pic.twitter.com/JVG5cQcXz8
— Awais (@Awais7866) February 19, 2024

Congrats

Congratulations Lanka! What a convincing win.@Angelo69Mathews comes all guns blazing. Pathirana shows maturity.@OfficialSLC #SLvsAFG pic.twitter.com/eD0uUGaKbH
— Jayantha Dissanayaka (@jdissanayaka) February 19, 2024

What happened?

What is going wrong with our Atalan in this series #SLvsAFG https://t.co/tUtazvaHqQ
— Rahmatullah (@Rahmatu38590613) February 19, 2024

Big win

Sri Lanka take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20I series with big win in Dambulla ⚡#SLVSAFG pic.twitter.com/t7OvfLDFjp
— CRIC.HARI (@HKhurdra72916) February 19, 2024

Player of the match

Player of the Match - 🇱🇰🏏⚾️ @Angelo69Mathews

🏏 42* (22)

⚾️ 2/9 (2)#sportspavilionlk #SLvsAFG #SLvAFG pic.twitter.com/yvGGcjT37N
— DANUSHKA ARAVINDA (@DanuskaAravinda) February 19, 2024

Valuable player

ESPNcricinfo

The

Most

Valuable

Player

Of

The

Match#SLvsAFG #TheLionPrideSL https://t.co/uvHak0buSw
— The Lions' Army (@TheLionPrideSL) February 19, 2024

Surprising commentary

Suprised to see the commentary from @RusselArnold69 and @farveezmaharoof where they categorize runner ball innings as good T20 innings from Sadeera #SLvsAFG
— Ashan (@ajw1230) February 19, 2024

Great achievement