Highlights, Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Match, Full Cricket Score: Sri Lanka win by 34 runs (D/L method)

Sri Lanka have opened their account in the World Cup with a win tonight. It was quite a match in which the momentum kept swinging. Sri Lanka made a good start but then endured a dramatic collapse. Rain delay was followed by a decent start of the chase by Afghanistan but Sri Lanka's experienced bowling proved to be too good on the day. Both sides need to improve their bating to do better going forward.

That's all from our side for tonight. India play their first match tomorrow and we will meet you guys for that game. Good night!

Dimuth Karunaratne: We had a good start after a long time but then we lost a couple of wickets. That's the negative part but otherwise, the bowling and fielding was good. It's not easy to stay positive after losing the first match. We have experience of these conditions and that helped. We need to improve out batting in middle overs. 

It will be a quick turnaround for the Sri Lankans who now travel to Bristol. Within seven days they would play Pakistan and Bangladesh and they should enjoy the conditions over there. This win by the way is Sri Lanka’s first win in Cardiff. They had previously lost six games in Cardiff before today. They owe it to their seamers. The batters need to show character.

Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Correspondent

23:53 (IST)

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Gulbadin Naib, Afghanistan captain: We did not bowl right areas at the start. We lost the momentum from there. We missed it it there. Nabi bowled well. Wicket was not easy for the batter. I asked bowlers to hit the deck hard. They stopped them before 200. Target was not that much. We have been preparing for these moments in the last 2-3 months. We need to improve and build small partnerships. 

Thisara Perera: "We knew the ball would do something in these conditions if you hit the right length. I'm normally a good fielder so I am happy to take a crucial catch. We have an experienced attack, we thought we could defend the total"

Sri Lanka get out of jail eventually. A Lasith Malinga yorker has broken many a heart all these years and he has done it again. He cleans up Hamid Hassan. Sri Lanka  will feel relieved. What splendid effort by their seamers. Nuwan Pradeep was hero with career best four for 31. Then Malinga was too good for the tail as he has done time and again. Good back up by rest of the bowlers as well. Sri Lanka gain first points in the World Cup. They can move to Bristol with a sigh of relief but batsmen need to do a lot of work. Angelo Mathews need to be given a shake up for his casual approach with the bat. So is Kusal Mendis.

Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Correspondent

23:44 (IST)

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Nuwan Pradeep is the Man of the Match for his bowing figures of 4/31

This is also Sri Lanka's first win against a full-member team out of last 10 ODIs.

Umang Pabari, Cricket statistician

23:43 (IST)

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This is the first win for Sri Lanka at Cardiff out of six ODIs.

Umang Pabari, Cricket statistician

23:43 (IST)

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Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by 34 runs!!

OUT! Hamid b Malinga 6(5) 

Malinga cleans up Hamid Hassan with his ever-so-reliable yorker to bring an end to Afghanistan's innings. Sri Lanka win their first match of this World Cup.

After 32 overs,Afghanistan 145/9 ( Hamid Hassan 0 , )

Zadran got two fours in the over but he's gone now. Karunaratne's direct hit at the non-striker end catches Zadran short of his crease. Sri Lanka one wicket away from the win.

OUT! RUN OUT! 

Najibullah run out (Karunaratne) 43(56) 

Skipper Karunaratne produces a bit of magic with his fielding to remove the dangerous Zadran. The batsman played a drive to mid-off and set off for a single but Karunaratne was quick to collect the ball and target the stumps with a direct hit to catch Zadran short of the crease

FOUR! Streaky! Zadran goes for a slog shot in front of the wicket as the thick edge off the bat runs behind for a four 

FOUR! Powerful shot! Also, under pressure from Zadran. Udana gave some room with a length ball and that was smoked over covers 

After 31 overs,Afghanistan 136/8 ( Najibullah Zadran 35 , Hamid Hassan 0)

Malinga may not be as great as his younger days but he surely knows how to deliver under pressure. Failed with few attempts of the yorker but finally executed it to perfection to clean up Dawlat. Just one from the over which came due to a wide as a slow yorker went down the leg. 51 in 60 needed.

WICKET! Dawlat Zadran b Malinga 6(18)

A classic Malinga yorker does the job! Malinga was looking for that perfect slow yorker but failed twice before but not this time. Squeezed that under Dawlat's bat to break the stumps.

Nuwan Pradeep's last two ODIs:

34/4 v Scotland, Edinburgh, 2019
31/4 v Afghanistan, Cardiff, 2019*

Umang Pabari, Cricket statistician

23:25 (IST)

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After 30 overs,Afghanistan 135/7 ( Najibullah Zadran 35 , Dawlat Zadran 6)

Two from the over. Lakmal got one past the outside edge of Zadran as he attempted a cut on the off. 52 in 66 needed.

After 29 overs,Afghanistan 133/7 ( Najibullah Zadran 34 , Dawlat Zadran 5)

Pradeep is on fire here. Beats the outside edge of Zadran on the first ball while his wild slash on next ball fell marginally short of the sweeper cover. Three of the over. 54 in 72 needed.

After 28 overs,Afghanistan 130/7 ( Najibullah Zadran 31 , Dawlat Zadran 5)

Excellent over from Lakmal. Just three runs conceded. Zadran needs to stay there till the end for Afghanistan to squeeze out a win. 57 in 78 ball needed.

After 27 overs,Afghanistan 127/7 ( Najibullah Zadran 29 , Dawlat Zadran 4)

Pradeep has struck again to remove Rashid Khan and Sri Lanka are bossing again. Got the ball to move back in from good length to escape Rashid's bat to clip his pads and top of the stumps. Huge appeal for LBW against Dawlat but it was going down leg while an amateurish fielding effort at mid-on by Malinga gives away a four.

FOUR! Horrible string of errors from Sri Lanka. Malinga mistimed his slide and let the push to mid-on run past him. Mathews gave it a chase, dived to cut it off but failed

England is too excited for the World Cup it seems. No coverage in their own country?

See-saw match #AFGvSL. You can see it in Chikmagalur, in Silchar, in Bhatinda, in Satara but I can't see it in my hotel room in England!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 4, 2019

Four for Pradeep. He is on a comeback trial having returned home from the tour of Australia in January with a hamstring injury. He missed the tour of South Africa and was overlooked for the opening fixture of the World Cup against New Zealand. He has done well here. Perhaps the quickest among the current bowlers, he has struggled a bit with his length but more importantly has given his team regular breakthroughs. Four for 24 his figures – best in his career.

Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Correspondent

23:05 (IST)

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OUT! Rashid Khan b Pradeep 2(4)

Well done, Pradeep! Sri Lanka back on top. Pradeep has now reached his best figures in ODIs. The ball moved back in after pitching to escape the whip shot from Rashid to clip his pads and top of the stumps.

After 26 overs,Afghanistan 123/6 ( Najibullah Zadran 29 , Rashid Khan 2)

Lakmal back into attack and completes a tidy over by giving away just a single. Pressure on Afghanistan now.

After 25 overs,Afghanistan 122/6 ( Najibullah Zadran 29 , Rashid Khan 1)

Sri Lanka have probably dragged themselves back into the game. Pradeep gave away five wides as his short ball flew over the batsman but later trapped Naib in front of the wickets. Naib reviewed it but it was clipping leg. Rashid Khan has now come bat.

WICKET! Naib lbw b Pradeep 23(32)

Pradeep traps Naib to break the partnership. The ball moved back in from good length to hit his pads. Naib took the review but replays showed it was clipping leg.

After 24 overs,Afghanistan 114/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 22 , Najibullah Zadran 28)

Finally, time for some spin. Offie Dhananjaya de Silva comes into attack. Three singles followed by a reverse-sweep four by Zadran. 

FOUR! Terrific shot. Zadran plays the reverse-sweep dragging de Silva's delivery from middle behind square on off

After 23 overs,Afghanistan 107/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 20 , Najibullah Zadran 23)

Just two from the over including two wide deliveries from Pradeep. Afghanistan's batsmen are not looking to take any unnecessary risk.

After 22 overs,Afghanistan 105/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 20 , Najibullah Zadran 23)

Udana back into attack. Afghanistan get to 100 with Naib collecting a double as a thick inside edge off his bat runs behind the wicket. Adds two more braces to take six from the over. Afghanistan need 82 more.

After 21 overs,Afghanistan 99/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 14 , Najibullah Zadran 23)

Bowling change. Lakmal called back into attack. He leaked 18 runs in his first two overs but bowls a good one now. Three off the over. Pradeep did well to cut off a wild slash at wide third-man off Zadran's bat to restrict it to a double.

After 20 overs,Afghanistan 96/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 13 , Najibullah Zadran 21)

Three off the over. Naib and Zadran have stabilised Afghanistan's innings and have managed to pull the momentum back in their favour. 91 more needed to win. Time for drinks.

After 19 overs,Afghanistan 93/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 11 , Najibullah Zadran 20)

Malinga back into attack and Naib punishes him with two consecutive fours. Malinga's lack of pace is not helping him as Naib plays a straight drive and then slams the short ball to cow corner. 11 off the over.

FOUR! Second consecutive boundary. Malinga went short but there's no pace behind it and Naib picks it easily to whack it to cow corner

FOUR! What a shot! Naib welcomes Malinga back into attack with an exquisite straight drive. No need to chase that

After 18 overs,Afghanistan 82/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 2 , Najibullah Zadran 19)

Zadran gets beaten by Thisara with the delivery angled across him. A run out appeal against Naib but he was safely in. A misfield on off allows Zadran to add a brace. You can't leak runs like that while defending a small total. Also, couple of wides in the over adding to total six from the over.

After 17 overs,Afghanistan 76/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 1 , Najibullah Zadran 17)

Three singles and three runs added in Pradeep's over. Afghanistan need 111 more to win. Run rate is not an issue, what they need is to protect wickets and a partnership.

After 16 overs,Afghanistan 73/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 0 , Najibullah Zadran 16)

Najibullah Zadran scored a fifty against Australia and it seems like he's just continued from where he left off. Two fours in the over. A chip off wide short ball through covers before a powerful drive through extra-cover area. Afghanistan need 114 more to win.

FOUR! Stand and deliver. Zadran played a drive through extra-cover without even using his feet. Some power.

FOUR! Zadran went against the short and wide delivery from Thisara with soft hands, chipping it through covers

After 15 overs,Afghanistan 65/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 0 , Najibullah Zadran 8)

Five off the over. Zadran added a boundary to his tally as he slammed the wide of off delivery from Pradeep through the sweeper cover area. 

FOUR! Pradeep goes wide of off as Zadran slashes that through sweeper cover for a boundary

After 14 overs,Afghanistan 60/5 ( Gulbadin Naib (C) 0 , Najibullah Zadran 3)

After taking a fantastic catch, Thisara Perera now strikes with the ball. He removed Nabi with a peach of a delivery. Got the ball to move back in after pitching as Nabi was caught playing for a wrong line and lost his stumps. Najibullah Zadran walks out to bat and gets a triple with a cover drive. 

Sri Lanka have heaps of pace bowling options here. Four front line seamers plus all-rounder Thisara Perera. Wonder whether they have ever had such depth in pace bowling department in an international game before. Today they included Nuwan Pradeep in place of the leg-spin of Jeewan Mendis. The seamers have done well to bowl half of Afghanistan side out so far. Only if their batsmen had shown more character. It was one of the most shocking batting efforts by a Sri Lankan side in recent times. The bowlers have made amends though. More work to be done.

Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Correspondent

22:07 (IST)

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OUT! BOWLED!

Nabi b Perera 11(16)

Absolute beauty from Thisara Perera. Got the ball to move back in off the surface as Nabi went playing for the wrong line and his stumps were broken. Afghanistan in deep trouble.

After 13 overs,Afghanistan 57/4 ( Mohammad Nabi 11 , Gulbadin Naib (C) 0)

Excellent over by Pradeep. Wicket-maiden and Sri Lanka are now bossing the game. Four straight dot balls to Shahidi and then a snorter. Pradeep got the ball to rise on him as the batsman edged it to keeper trying to force it away on off. Skipper Gulbadin Naib now joins Nabi in the middle. Partnership needed.

WICKET! Shahidi c Kusal Perera b Pradeep 4(17)

Excellent bowling from Pradeep to get Afghanistan four down. Went with the conventional bouncer and got it to climb up as Shahidi was looking to force it away but there was too much bounce as he edged it to the keeper.

After 12 overs,Afghanistan 57/3 ( Hashmatullah Shahidi 4 , Mohammad Nabi 11)

A misfield at mid-wicket by Thirimanne allows Nabi to add three runs to Afghanistan's tally. Followed by a single and a brace. A run out referral on last ball but Sahidi was safely in. 130 more needed for a win.