Sawt Falasteen - Asalanka hits 91 to haul Sri Lanka to 268 against Afghanistan

The hosts were 84-3 inside 20 overs in Hambantota but a 99-run stand between Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva for the fifth wicket rescued their innings. De Silva made 51 before being bowled by Mohammad Nabi.

However, 268 could prove to be insufficient on a good batting track.

Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-58) claimed the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis in his opening spell, and then Fareed Ahmad and Mujeeb ur Rahman made further inroads to put Sri Lanka in trouble.

After the dismissal of De Silva, captain Dasun Shanaka added 32 runs for the sixth wicket with Asalanka, but bowler Noor Ahmad accounted for the skipper with a well-disguised googly.

Dushan Hemantha backed up Asalanka well in a 48-run stand for the seventh wicket. He made 22.

Asalanka scored his 91 off 95 balls with 12 fours, before being run out in the last over. It was his seventh ODI half-century.

Sri Lanka will use the series as preparation for World Cup qualifiers later this month in Zimbabwe.

Afghanistan are already through to the sport's showpiece event later this year in India and will be testing their combinations.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST