Sri Lanka’s bowlers put Afghanistan to the sword in Colombo and in command to win Test – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports editor)
Sri Lanka’s bowlers wreaked havoc on Afghanistan, bowling them out for 198, and then raced to 80 fo no loss on day one of the only Test at the SSC stadium in Colombo.
It was a day out for the fast men as Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando combined with spinner Prabath Jayasuriya to unravel a potent Afghanistan batting line-up in just over half a day to set up what appears a historic first Test win against the visitors.
The Afgans were all at sea on a seaming wicket which was exploited by a resurgent Sri Lanka side that has been reshuffled to include some veterans who were overlooked for a while.
Only Rahmat Shah who smacked 91 off 139 balls with 13 fours had the measure of the Sri Lanka attack. But he got little help from the other Afghanistan batters who had little answer to the Sri Lanka attack.
The injection of experience and the change at the top with Dhananjaya De Silva handed the captaincy in preference to Dimuth Karunaratne appears to have given the team a fresh perspective.
In fairness, Karunaratne has over the recent past, requested that he be relieved of the leadership role but the selectors have persisted with him due to his success in Tests.
The inclusion of Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Chandimal two former skippers, will strengthen Sri Lanka’s batting and give it the missing consistency until they can gain experience from the emerging talent within the squad.
Asitha Fernando grabbed 3 for including the second ball wicket Ibrahim Zadran to put Afghanistan on the back foot. They never really recovered from the early blow. Vishwa Fernando joined in with 4 for and Prabath Jayasuriya 3 fir to compete the demolition job.
Dimuth Karunaratne, 42 off 37 balls, and Nishan Madushka, 36 off43 balls raced after the Afgan total in cavalier fashion rattling up 80 off 14 overs setting up the scene for Sri Lanka to make an imposing total and possible victory in their maiden encounter at home.
