The Kusal Medis era has just begun in Sri Lankan cricket. Kusal Mendis started his full-time captaincy tenure in grand style, defeating Afghanistan in an Odi series.
Batting first at the Pallekele Stadium, Sri Lanka failed to get started as desired as the Lankan Lions lost both openers with just 36 runs on the board.
However, the Afgan Giants failed to cash in on the opportunity as the Lankan Lions slowly paved their way back into the game.
After losing both openers, the Sri Lankan middle order took charge in the game, with four of the middle order batters, Sadeera Samrawickrama (51 runs),Charith Aslanka (97 runs), Kusal Mendis (61 runs), and Janith Liyanage (50 runs), helping Sri Lanka turn the tide in their favor.
It was Charith Aslanka who scored the most with 97 runs and helped the Sri Lankan team reach a total of 308 runs. From Afganistan’s bowling, Asmatullah was the star of their innings as he picked up three wickets.
On the other hand, coming to chase the target of 308, the game was evenly poised till the 30th over as Ibrahim Zadran and Rehmat Shah added 97 runs for the second wicket.
However, Sri Lankan mystery spinner Wanindu Hasranga thratlled Afganistan’s middle order bundling them for just 155 and finished with impressive bowling figures of 4/15.