Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi stated he couldn’t be extra pleased with his group’s efficiency following a heartbreaking two-run loss to Sri Lanka that knocked his aspect out of the Asia Cup, right here on Tuesday.
Due to its inferior run fee, Afghanistan wanted to chase down a 292-run goal set by Sri Lanka in 37.1 overs to qualify for Super4s.
Veteran Mohammad Nabi (65 off 32 balls) put it on the cusp of a well-known win by smashing the quickest half-century by an Afghanistan batter in ODIs.
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Eventually, Afghanistan fell agonisingly brief by two runs because it was bowled out for 289 in 37.4 overs.
“Very disappointed about it. We fought well, we gave our 100 per cent. Proud of the team for the way we played, the way we batted. I think in the last couple of years we played good cricket in the ODI format also,” Shahidi stated.
“We are still learning a lot. We had a lot of positives in this tournament. We are very near to the World Cup, what we did wrong here we will learn and be better for World Cup. Our crowd is always supporting us. We are thankful to them.
“We tried our best to give something back to them today, we feel sorry for them,” he added.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka was relieved that they someway discovered a strategy to win.
“It’s a tough one, very hard to defend such a total. Nabi played an outstanding innings which almost took away the game from us. We found a way to win,” he stated.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com