Mahela Jayawardene's timely ton spared Sri Lanka the blushes against Afghanistan at Dunedin.
Sri Lanka grabbed a much-needed win in their World Cup Pool A clash against Afghanistan, as the Angelo Mathews led side beat the minnows by four wickets at the University Oval in Dunedin.
Put in to bat first, Afghanistan were reeling at 1-34 at the start of the eight over after their batsman Nawroz Mangal fell victim to Mathews' delivery on his individual score of 10.
Opener Javed Mangal left the pitch after hitting 24 runs as he fell prey to Suranga Lakmal's express delivery. Following Mangal's departure, Asghar Stanikzai combined with Samiullah Shenwari (38) to put up an 88-run third wicket partnership, before the former fell prey to Rangana Herath's orthodox spin for 54.
No other substantial partnership came from Afghanistan as they managed to put up a target of 233 to win for Sri Lanka before they were all bowled out with two balls to spare. Lasith Malinga was at his best as he claimed three wickets and delivered match figures of 3-41. Skipper Mathews also sparkled with the ball claiming three wickets.
Related: World Cup 2015, Sri Lanka v/s Afghanistan: Veteran Jayawardene saves the day for Islanders
Sri Lanka got off to a wobbly start as both openers, Lahiru Thirimanne and Tilakratne Dilshan, went for a duck each within the first two overs. Even wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara (seven) failed to add any substantial runs to the Sri Lankan scoreline.
Former skipper Mahela Jayawardene then combined with Mathews to set up a solid fifth wicket partnership of 126 runs before the former lost his wicket to Hamid Hassan after completing his ton, while the latter was run out on 44. Jeevan Mendis then combined with all-rounder Thisara Perera to score the winning runs for Sri Lanka as they both remained unbeaten at individual nine and 47 runs respectively.
Jayawardene's ton helped anchor Sri Lanka to their win and also fetched him the Player of the Match gong. A relieved Mathews said that his side came back well after going down with a 'lot of pressure', adding that they really have to 'raise their standards to compete against the top teams', admitting that it was a 'see-saw kind of game'.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi said that he felt they were short by 30-40 runs, claiming that his side 'bowled really well' in the first 10-15 overs, putting pressure on Sri Lanka in the end. Nabi admitted that they also missed out on a few run outs, but they definitely kept them to a 'tight game'.
Nabi lauded Jayawardene and Mathews for their brilliant play, and claimed that the duo didn't seem to have any 'pressure'.
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