Highlights: Sri Lanka trounced Afghanistan by 72 runs in the second match in Dambulla on February 19 to win the T20I series, thanks to Angelo Mathews’ all-round performance – 42 not out and 2-9 in two overs.
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Mathews blasted an unbeaten 42 off 22 balls before chipping in with two early wickets to help Sri Lanka seal the three-match series with one match still left. There were other contributors throughout the hosts’ batting effort – Pathum Nissanka blazed 25 off 11, Kusal Mendis struck 23 off 14, Sadeera Samarawickrama played a measured knock of 51 off 42, and Wanindu Hasaranga bludgeoned his way to 22 off 9.
Arriving in the 15th over, Mathews, playing in his usual fashion, took time to settle down, nudging four off his first nine deliveries. He struck his first boundary off Fazalhaq Farooqi before smacking a four back past Naveen-ul-Haq next over. It was the 19th over in which he really teed off, clobbering the first ball off Azmatullah Omarzai over deep mid-wicket before hitting the next one over deep square leg. Omarzai, startled by the onslaught, bowled a poor length outside off the next ball and Mathews needed no second invitation, launching him for yet another six over long on. As a result, Sri Lanka finished on 187-6.
Chasing the formidable total, Afghanistan faltered from the start as Mathews dismissed Hazratullah Zazai in the first over before sending back Ibrahim Zadran for a seven-ball 10 in his second over. Binura Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana then scalped two wickets each to derail the tourists’ run-chase as Afghanistan folded for 115 in 17 overs.
