AFG vs SL, World Cup 2019: Mohammad Nabi, Nuwan Pradeep's 4 wickets, Kusal Perera's 50 are top performances

Sri Lanka on Tuesday posted their first win of the ICC World Cup 2019 as they defeated Afghanistan at Cardiff. The Lankans made a stunning comeback after going down against New Zealand in the first match. The Dimuth Karunaratne-led side first displayed a strong batting show and later followed with formidable bowling performance to run away with a 34-run win in the rain-hit encounter.

Afghanistan despite making a very good comeback in the first innings with the ball put on a horrible batting performance, hence facing second straight defeat in the tournament. Here are some of the top performances of the match

Kusal Perera’s fifty

Sri Lankan openers, Kusal Perera and Kuranaratne provided their team a good start. The duo formed 92 runs stand before the latter was removed. However, Kusal kept the pace on as the left-handed batsman scored a comprehensive knock of 78 runs, which included eight boundaries. He gave Lanka a solid platform before the middle and lower-order collapsed.

Mohammad Nabi’s exceptional spell of 9-0-30-4

Sri Lanka was well ahead after Afghanistan invited them to bat first. They were 144-2 in 21.2 overs. However, the introduction of Mohammad Nabi into the attack changed the whole scenario. The right-arm off-spin bowler ran through Lanka middle-order, reducing them to 188-8 and lastly, 201 all-out. He bowled at perfect lengths, to which Lankan batsmen have no answer whatsoever.

Nuwan Pradeep's match-winning 4 wickets

Despite Nabi’s heroics with the ball, Afghanistan failed to triumph in the match, largely due to a jaw-breaking spell of seam bowling by Nuwan Pradeep. The right-arm pacer broke the back of Afghan batting by scalping four crucial wickets. He bowled with good pace and got some help from the forecast Cardiff conditions as well. Due to his fine spell, Afghanistan just managed to score just 152 runs in the chase.