Srilanka made revenge by defeating Afghanistan earlier they faced in Group stage

Sharjah: Srilanka defeated Afghanistan by 4 wickets to gain much needed 2 points in super 4s, Their batters contributing with 30's, high score of 36 from Mendis, no batters have crossed 50 score.

Afghanistan's record of not losing the game when setting a target of 170 score was destroyed by fearless batting performance of Lankans and also got revenge for their heavy defeat to the same opposition in group stage. Afghanistan made only one change, bringing Shinwari in place of fast bowler Azmatullah. Srilanka made a decision to field first after winning the toss. Gurbaz (84) and Zadran (40) 93 runs partnership to 175-6 was not enough to restrict the 5 time champions

Earlier, Openers Gurbaz and Zazai set a strong base in the power play. Gurbaz ran through the bowlers and Zazai supported his partner as he was struggling to time the ball and eventually dismissed in 5th over by Dilshan Madushanka whipping the bails. But the wicket of the left hander did not affect the batting side as Gurbaz and Zadran played sensible and attacking cricket to set the tone for slog overs. But the plan did not work for them as after the wicket of these two set batters momentum shifted towards the bowling side in last 5 overs as every batters were returning to pavilion at the speed of entering Nabi(1) caught and bowled by Theekshana, Najibullah(17), Rashid Khan(9) were run out. Afg managed above par total at the end of 20 overs in a slow paced wicket.

In chase, Srilankan openers utilised the power play by ending 6 overs for 57-0. Rashid's final power play proved to be costly as Mendis hit two back to back sixes for 17 runs. Naveen made a breakthrough dismissing Mendis at deep wicket in hands of Zadran for 36 high score for the chasing side. Asalanka struggled to score runs and was eventually bowled by Nabi for an inside edge. Another batter Nissanka also departed for his 35 and Shanaka lost his wicket to Najibullah presence of mind at the ropes . Gunathilaka and Rajapaksa's 30's were enough for the chasing side to make the team close to the target. Both lost their wicket trying to finish the match earlier. In the end Hasaranga done the formality by hitting 3 boundaries to open their account as first team in super 4's

Match Summary:
Afghanisthan: 175-6 in 20 overs (Gurbaz 84, Zadran 40, Madushanka 2-37).
Sri Lanka: 179-6 in 19.1 overs (Mendis 36, Nissanka 35, Mujeeb 2-30)

Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets