It was a sad end to Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews’ iconic innings on Day 2 of the only Test match against Afghanistan. Sri Lanka ended the day on 410/6 after Mathews fell to Qais Ahmad after hitting his stumps. Mathews played brilliantly throughout his innings and smashed a brilliant century. However, on the second ball of the 102nd over, Mathews ended up hitting the stumps with his bat while trying to sweep Qais Ahmad.
Angelo Mathews also added 232 runs off 381 balls along with Dinesh Chandimal for the fourth wicket. Chandimal also smashed a century and played 107 innings off 181 balls. The Sri Lankan team has dominated Afghanistan in the only Test and is currently in control of the game. This was Chandimal’s second Test ton in the last seven Tests. His last century was against Ireland in Galle.
Watch – Angelo Mathews ends his entries due to his own mistake
Angelo Mathew with a four and bowled pic.twitter.com/IZITIq1Pmy
– Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) February 3, 2024
Sri Lanka, who batted first on Day 2, lost their first ninety-run wicket early on when Naveed Zadran dismissed Nishan Madushka for 37 runs off 53 balls. Kusal Mendis, who fell to Nijat Masood and scored 10 runs off 22 balls, could not achieve anything either. After losing two wickets in quick succession, Dimuth Karunaratne reached his half-century and played a captain’s knock.
But Qais Ahmed ended Dimuth Karunaratne’s stay at the crease as he was dismissed for 77 runs off 72 balls. Along with Angelo Mathews, Karunaratne had already scored 33 runs off 48 balls for the third wicket. After Naveed Zadran dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva also got a golden duck thanks to a dismissal from Hasmatullah Shahidi.
During the second day of the one-off Test match, the Sri Lankan batsmen hit the Afghanistan players from all sides because they had no idea what to do. Till the end of Day 2, Qais Ahmad and Naveed Zadran took two wickets, while Nijat Masood took one.
The Afghan team managed 198 runs in their first innings as Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya became the main reason behind their struggle. Vishwa picked 4 wickets while Asitha and Jayasuriya finished with 3 wickets each.
Rahmat Shah was the only bright spot in the Afghanistan batting line-up as he played 91 innings off 139 balls. No other Afghan batsman could stay in the crease for long and showed a failed batting performance.
Angelo Mathews has been one of the absolute legends of the Sri Lanka cricket team but the selectors kept him away from the team for a long time. However, Mathews returned to the team in the 2023 ODI World Cup and proved his class once again in international cricket. On the other hand, Dinesh Chandimal has been a regular part of the Sri Lanka Test team for a long time and has a lot of experience.
The Sri Lankan team has not been in the best of form in recent years but now their recent performance has ensured a decent return to international cricket.