Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC World Cup 2019 Stats Wrap: Islanders finally break Cardiff duck, Lahiru Thirimanne enters 3000-run club and more

Sri Lanka survived a woeful batting collapse to beat Afghanistan by 34 runs in a rain-shortened World Cup thriller on Tuesday. The 1996 World Cup champions limped to 201 all out in the 37th over as Afghanistan grabbed nine wickets for 57 runs to give themselves a chance of pulling off a shock win. Afghanistan needed a rain-revised target of just 187 from 41 overs but they failed to gain any momentum in their run chase and completely lost their way after opener Mohammad Shahzad’s dismissal in the fifth over led them to lose five wickets for just 23 runs. [caption id=“attachment_6760791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sri Lankan players celebrate after beating Afghanistan. AFP[/caption] After Afghanistan were reduced to 57-5, a partnership of 64 by Najibullah Zadran and captain Gulbadin Naib gave them hope. But fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep grabbed two quick wickets before Najibullah was run out by Dimuth Karunaratne for 43. That set up a tense finale as the last two batsmen needed to score another 42 runs to hand Afghanistan their first World Cup win against a test-playing nation. But Sri Lanka made sure that victory did not come at their expense as Lasith Malinga bowled Hamid Hassan with a yorker four balls later. Pradeep was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers as he claimed a career-best four wickets for 31 runs as Afghanistan were bowled out for 152 in the 33rd over. Here are all the numbers from Match 7 of the 2019 World Cup. - This was the first win for Sri Lanka at Cardiff from six ODIs. This was also the first win for them out of last 10 ODIs against a full-member team. - Lahiru Thirimanne completed his 3000 ODI runs in 100 innings which is the third quickest among Sri Lankan players after Upul Tharanga (92) and Marvan Atapattu (94). - This was the third duck for Angelo Matthews in ICC ODI WCs which is the joint-most along with Mahela Jayawardene and Arjuna Ranatunga for Sri Lanka. - Nuwan Pradeep has now taken a four-wicket haul in his last two ODIs - 4/34 against Scotland at Edinburgh and 4/31 against Afghanistan at Cardiff. - Sri Lanka’s Number 4-7 batsmen scored just four runs on Tuesday which is now the second least in a WC match by a team when each batsman has been dismissed from 4-7. The record is held by the Netherlands when their No 4-7 batsmen scored only two runs against India at Paarl in 2003. - This was only the second ODI in his career where Mujeeb Ur Rahman did not open the bowling for Afghanistan. The other instance was recorded against Ireland at Belfast this year. - Sri Lanka lost nine wickets in their last 15.5 overs today scoring only 57 runs while they scored 144 runs from the first 21 overs of their innings. - Mohammad Nabi’s figures of 4 for 30 runs are now the second-best bowling figures for an off-spinner against Sri Lanka in a World Cup match, after Vic Marks’ 5/39 in 1983 WC. Overall among the spinners, the record is held by Collin Obuya when he took five wickets for 24 runs at Nairobi in 2003 among spinners. With inputs from Reuters