In the early stages of the Asia Cup, most matches had been characterized by one-sided outcomes, leaving fans craving a truly exciting showdown between two competitive teams. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka stepped up to deliver precisely that. In a nail-biting conclusion to the match, Sri Lanka emerged victorious by a margin of just 2 runs, in a game that saw a combined total of 580 runs scored. It was a thrilling spectacle that had fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

Sri Lanka got off to a strong start with Nissanka shifting gears and taking the aggressive route. But the loss of 3 quick wickets with a span of 6 overs dented their run rate and the onus was on the experienced Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka to steady the ship. Their 102-run partnership not only ensured that their team got out of the crisis but also ensured that the finishers had enough overs to give the much-needed momentous finish.

While the Sri Lankans did tumble from 188/3 to 227/7, their tailenders in the form of Wellalage and Theekshana created a formidable partnership that saw the team reach a competitive total of 291. Kusal Mendis stood for almost 30 overs in the innings and scored 92 runs.

Afghanistan on the other hand started on the wrong foot, by losing 2 wickets within their first 5 overs. But the Sri Lankan bowlers couldn’t keep a lid on their scoring rate and the arrival of Mohammad Nabi just made things worse for the bowling team. The Afghan skipper and Nabi registered a fantastic counter attacking partnership worth 80 runs of just 47 deliveries, with Nabi scoring almost 82 percent of the partnership runs. While the trio of Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran and Rashid khan provided their finishing impetus, it wasn’t enough for Afghanistan as they fell short by a slim margin of 2 runs.

In this article, we will delve into the batting performances of Kusal Mendis and Mohammad Nabi.

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Kusal Mendis’ Steady Knock

A quick glance of the charts shows us the wide variety of shots that Mendis played throughout the innings. He started of his innings at a slow pace scoring 32 runs of his first 47 deliveries. He then took on Rashid khan and scored 3 consecutive boundaries which provided him a major momentum boost and he ended up scoring 60 runs of the next 37 deliveries.

He scored a bulk of his runs of the front foot drive (18.3%) but he showed prowess in his back foot pull shots which aggregated to almost 17% of his total runs. Once he had settled down, he started taking on the spinners, which included the aggressive front foot slog (12.9% of the total runs). He is also well known for playing the hook shot which aggregated close to 7% of his total runs.

Throughout the first phase of his innings, he took on the role of a strike rotator and majorly played the back foot push and the front foot push which aggregated close to 11% and 9% of his total runs respectively.

Mohammad Nabi’s Swashbuckling innings

Afghanistan had to play at almost 8 runs an over in order to qualify for the next stage of the tournament. Just when things seemed to be bleak, Mohammad Nabi entered the crease and changed the complexity of the game. His counter attacking innings provided the much-needed hope and momentum for the Afghan team.

His major scoring area was the third man region but that was primarily because of a few outside edges which went to the fence. He played a few astounding strokes towards the mid-wicket and covers region which accounted for close to 19% and 16% percent of his total runs respectively. He also played a few eye pleasing lofted drives towards the extra covers and long on region accounting for close to 11% of his total runs respectively. He put away the wide short balls with his fierce back foot cut shots to the cover-point and point regions.

While it was a spectacle to watch Nabi’s counter attacking innings, he would feel gutted for not staying longer in the crease and finishing off the match before the required over mark.