Asia Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan

Sri Lanka faced a do-or-die situation on Monday when they took on Afghanistan in the second Group B match of the Asia Cup. The 137-run loss against Bangladesh was an alarm bell for Sri Lankan cricket which has been poorly managed after the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Sri Lanka who have won the Asia Cup five times doesn't seem to be the Old Sri Lankan team which fought neck to neck with India and Pakistan.

Afghanistan has been improving constantly and they came into this match on the back of victories in Ireland, where they defeated the home team both in the T20I (2-0) as well as ODI (2-1) series.

Top-order batsman Rahmat Shah scored a well made 72 as Afghanistan posted 249 runs against Sri Lanka at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Monday. Rahmat Shah played 90 balls with great patience to help his side post a challenging total on a flat Dubai surface. Openers Ihsanullah Janat (45) and Mohammad Shahzad (34) scored crucial runs on top of the order to give Afghanistan a great platform.

249 was enough for the Afghans as they restricted Sri Lanka for just 158, beating them by 91 runs. With this, Sri Lanka are knocked out of the ongoing Asia Cup.

We look at a few reasons which made the loss inevitable.

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#3 An invaluable effort by Rahmat Shah

Rahmat Shah played according to the situation

Rahmat Shah’s impressive 72 led Afghanistan to a decent total, giving Sri Lanka a target of 250 in the second match of Group B. Afghanistan have been impressing everyone in the limited-overs formats over the past few years with their grit and determination after they got ODI status in 2011.

When we talk about the Afghanistan team the names that come to mind are Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Afghanistan's biggest weapons are the all-rounders like Rahmat Shah and Samiullah Shenwari, who are very important in the limited overs format. The flexibility they provide to the team makes Afghanistan a team that doesn't depend on only star players and Rahmat's performance today proved it right.

#2 Afghanistan's bowling performance

Nabi and Rashid Khan choked the Lankan middle order

Mujeeb Ur Rahman started the proceedings for Afghanistan bowlers and his line and length was immaculate. Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, and Rashid Khan choked the Sri Lankan middle-order and the slow pitch didn't help the Lankan batsmen to get a hold on to the proceedings.

Shehan Jayasuriya didn't help matters for Sri Lanka. The spin duo of Mujeeb and Rashid had a great reputation in choking batsmen with their tight bowling and it was evident in this crucial encounter against the Lankans.

Sri Lankan batting which is adept at batting in such slow conditions never really fired and their failure to stitch together a partnership or two resulted in their defeat. Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib were on fire for most of their spells.

#1. Sri Lanka's batting collapse

The Lankan batting failed again in the absence of Chandimal

In their first match, just three batsmen were able to reach 20 for Angelo Mathews' side as Bangladesh recorded only their seventh win against Sri Lanka. Even against Afghanistan, the batting collapsed without any real pressure tactics from Afghanistan bowlers.

Chandimal and Gunathilaka's absence was too much to fill for the Lankan batsmen in the Asia Cup. Only fiur batsmen crossed 20 runs against Afghanistan. Upul Tharanga and Dhananjaya de Silva were starting to form a partnership at the top but barring them all Lankan batsmen failed miserably and that shows the lack of batting talent the island nation possesses right now.

Shehan Jayasuriya was showing promise in the middle but he was run-out in a misunderstanding with Angelo Mathews. The Sri Lankan limited overs team has to do a lot of brainstorming to come out of the mess they currently are in.