Afghan cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2023–24

Afghan cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2023–24
	Sri Lanka	Afghanistan
Dates	2 – 21 February 2024
Captains	Dhananjaya de Silva (Test) Kusal Mendis (ODIs) Wanindu Hasaranga (T20Is)	Hashmatullah Shahidi (Test & ODIs) Ibrahim Zadran (T20Is)
Test series
Result	Sri Lanka won the 1-match series 1–0
Most runs	Angelo Mathews (141)	Rahmat Shah (145)
Most wickets	Prabath Jayasuriya (8)	Naveed Zadran (4)
One Day International series
Results	Sri Lanka won the 3-match series 3–0
Most runs	Pathum Nissanka (346)	Azmatullah Omarzai (206)
Most wickets	Pramod Madushan (8)	Qais Ahmad (3) Azmatullah Omarzai (3)
Player of the series	Pathum Nissanka (SL)
Twenty20 International series
Results	Sri Lanka won the 3-match series 2–1
Most runs	Wanindu Hasaranga (102)	Rahmanullah Gurbaz (96)
Most wickets	Matheesha Pathirana (8)	Fazalhaq Farooqi (4) Mohammad Nabi (4) Azmatullah Omarzai (4)
Player of the series	Wanindu Hasaranga (SL)

The Afghanistan cricket team toured Sri Lanka in February 2024.^[1][2] The tour consisted of one Test, three One Day International (ODI) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.^[3] In November 2023, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced its international calendar for 2024 and confirmed the bilateral series.^[4] In January 2024, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed the fixtures for the tour.^[5]

This was the first Test match played between the two sides.^[6] The T20I series formed part of both teams' preparation for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[7]

Prior to the start of the third ODI match on 14 February 2024, Sri Lankan cricketers wore blackarm bands as a mark of respect for the former Sri Lanka Cricket administrator Trevor Rajaratnam who died on 13 February 2024 due to age-related ailments.^[8]

Squads

Sri Lanka			Afghanistan
Test[9]	ODIs[10]	T20Is[11]	Test[12]	ODIs[13]	T20Is[14]
Dhananjaya de Silva (c) Kusal Mendis (vc) Dinesh Chandimal Asitha Fernando Vishwa Fernando Chamika Gunasekara Prabath Jayasuriya Dimuth Karunaratne Nishan Madushka Angelo Mathews Kamindu Mendis Ramesh Mendis Kasun Rajitha Milan Rathnayake Sadeera Samarawickrama Lahiru Udara	Kusal Mendis (c) Charith Asalanka (vc) Sahan Arachchige Dushmantha Chameera Akila Dananjaya Shevon Daniel Asitha Fernando Avishka Fernando Wanindu Hasaranga Chamika Karunaratne Janith Liyanage Pramod Madushan Dilshan Madushanka Pathum Nissanka Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk) Maheesh Theekshana Dunith Wellalage	Wanindu Hasaranga (c) Charith Asalanka (vc) Akila Dananjaya Dhananjaya de Silva Binura Fernando Dilshan Madushanka Angelo Mathews Kamindu Mendis Kusal Mendis Pathum Nissanka Matheesha Pathirana Kusal Perera Sadeera Samarawickrama Dasun Shanaka Nuwan Thushara Maheesh Theekshana	Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) Rahmat Shah (vc) Qais Ahmad Yamin Ahmadzai Ikram Alikhil (wk) Mohammad Ishaq (wk) Nasir Jamal Zahir Khan Abdul Malik Nijat Masood Mohammad Saleem Bahir Shah Ibrahim Zadran Naveed Zadran Noor Ali Zadran Zia-ur-Rehman	Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) Rahmat Shah (vc) Fareed Ahmad Noor Ahmad Qais Ahmad Ikram Alikhil (wk) Sharafuddin Ashraf Fazalhaq Farooqi Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) Riaz Hassan Mujeeb Ur Rahman Gulbadin Naib Mohammad Nabi Azmatullah Omarzai Ibrahim Zadran Naveed Zadran	Ibrahim Zadran (c) Fareed Ahmad Noor Ahmad Qais Ahmad Sharafuddin Ashraf Fazalhaq Farooqi Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) Mohammad Ishaq (wk) Karim Janat Wafadar Momand  Gulbadin Naib Mohammad Nabi Naveen-ul-Haq Azmatullah Omarzai Najibullah Zadran Hazratullah Zazai

On 3 January 2024, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis were appointed Sri Lanka's Test captain and vice-captain respectively.^[15][16] With Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga were appointed as Sri Lanka's ODI and T20I captain respectively,^[17] this was the first time Sri Lanka had three different captains in the three formats.^[18]

Afghanistan also named Sharafuddin Ashraf, Shahidullah, Abdul Rahman and Bilal Sami as reserves for the ODI series.^[19]

Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman was ruled out of ODI series due to an injury.^[20] For the last ODI, Sharafuddin Ashraf was added to the Afghanistan's squad as his replacement.^[21]

On 11 February 2024, Asitha Fernando replaced injured Dushmantha Chameera in the Sri Lanka's squad for the last two ODIs.^[22][23]

Only Test

2–5 February 2024 Scorecard

Afghanistan	v	Sri Lanka
198 (62.4 overs) Rahmat Shah 91 (139) Vishwa Fernando 4/51 (12 overs)		439 (109.2 overs) Angelo Mathews 141 (259) Naveed Zadran 4/83 (22.5 overs)
296 (112.3 overs) Ibrahim Zadran 114 (259) Prabath Jayasuriya 5/107 (47 overs)		56/0 (7.2 overs) Dimuth Karunaratne 32* (22)

Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo Umpires: Chris Brown (NZ) and Michael Gough (Eng) Player of the match: Prabath Jayasuriya (SL)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
• Chamika Gunasekara (SL), Noor Ali Zadran, Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Saleem and Naveed Zadran (Afg) all made their Test debuts.
• Dhananjaya de Silva captained Sri Lanka for the first time in Tests.^[24][25]
• Kasun Rajitha replaced Chamika Gunasekara as concussion substitute for Sri Lanka on day 3 during Afghanistan's second innings.^[26][27]
• Ibrahim Zadran (Afg) scored his first century in Tests.^[28]

ODI series

1st ODI

9 February 2024 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Sri Lanka  381/3 (50 overs)	v	Afghanistan 339/6 (50 overs)
Pathum Nissanka 210* (139) Fareed Ahmad 2/79 (9 overs)		Azmatullah Omarzai 149* (115) Pramod Madushan 4/75 (10 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 42 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy Umpires: Alex Wharf (Eng) and Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL) Player of the match: Pathum Nissanka (SL)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field.
• Pathum Nissanka (SL) became the first Sri Lankan to score an ODI double century.^[29][30]
• Afghanistan scored their highest total in ODIs.^[31]

2nd ODI

11 February 2024 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Sri Lanka  308/6 (50 overs)	v	Afghanistan 153 (33.5 overs)
Charith Asalanka 97* (74) Azmatullah Omarzai 3/56 (10 overs)		Rahmat Shah 63 (69) Wanindu Hasaranga 4/27 (6.5 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 155 runs Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy Umpires: Alex Wharf (Eng) and Prageeth Rambukwella (SL) Player of the match: Charith Asalanka (SL)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

3rd ODI

14 February 2024 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  266 (48.2 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 267/3 (35.2 overs)
Rahmat Shah 65 (77) Pramod Madushan 3/45 (8.2 overs)		Pathum Nissanka 118 (101) Qais Ahmed 2/46 (7 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy Umpires: Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL) and Michael Gough (Eng) Player of the match: Pathum Nissanka (SL)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Pathum Nissanka became the fastest batsman for Sri Lanka, to reach 2,000 runs in ODIs, in terms of innings (52).^[32]

T20I series

1st T20I

17 February 2024 19:00 (N) Scorecard

Sri Lanka  160 (19 overs)	v	Afghanistan 156/9 (20 overs)
Wanindu Hasaranga 67 (32) Fazalhaq Farooqi 3/25 (4 overs)		Ibrahim Zadran 67* (55) Matheesha Pathirana 4/24 (4 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 4 runs Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla Umpires: Prageeth Rambukwella (SL) and Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL) Player of the match: Matheesha Pathirana (SL)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field.
• This was the first men's T20I to be played at the venue.^[33]

2nd T20I

19 February 2024 19:00 (N) Scorecard

Sri Lanka  187/6 (20 overs)	v	Afghanistan 115 (17 overs)
Sadeera Samarawickrama 51 (42) Mohammed Nabi 2/25 (4 overs)		Karim Janat 28 (23) Angelo Mathews 2/9 (2 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 72 runs Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla Umpires: Lyndon Hannibal (SL) and Prageeth Rambukwella (SL) Player of the match: Angelo Mathews (SL)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field.
• Wanindu Hasaranga (SL) became the second fastest cricketer to take 100 T20I wickets, in terms of number of matches played (63).^[34]

3rd T20I

21 February 2024 19:00 (N) Scorecard

Afghanistan  209/5 (20 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 206/6 (20 overs)
Rahmanullah Gurbaz 70 (43) Akila Dananjaya 2/37 (4 overs)		Kamindu Mendis 65* (39) Mohammad Nabi 2/35 (4 overs)

Afghanistan won by 3 runs Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla Umpires: Lyndon Hannibal (SL) and Raveendra Wimalasiri (SL) Player of the match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afg)

• Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Mohammad Ishaq (Afg) made his T20I debut.
• Qais Ahmad replaced Sharafuddin Ashraf as concussion substitute for Afghanistan during the second innings.^[35]

References

1. "ACB Confirm All-Format Tour to Sri Lanka and Home Series against Ireland". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
2. "Afghanistan lock in all-format series against Sri Lanka and Ireland". International Cricket Council. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
3. "Sri Lanka announce men's fixtures for 2024 season". Cricbuzz. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
4. "Men's 2024 Future Tours Program of Sri Lanka Cricket". Sri Lanka Cricket. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
5. "Afghanistan to play Tests against Sri Lanka and Ireland in February". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
6. "Sri Lanka to play 10 Tests and 42 white ball matches in 2024". Daily FT. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
7. "Afghanistan set to play multi-format series against Sri Lanka, Ireland before T20 World Cup". Cricket Country. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
8. "Lankan cricketers, SLC pay tribute to late Trevor Rajaratnam | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
9. "Sri Lanka name uncapped Gunasekara, Rathnayake and Udara for Afghanistan Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
10. "Sri Lanka drop Shanaka for ODIs against Afghanistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
11. "Sri Lanka name T20I squad for Afghanistan series". International Cricket Council. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
12. "ACB Name Squad for the One-Off Test Match against Sri Lanka". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
13. "Naib back in Afghanistan's ODI squad for SL series; Rashid still recovering". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
14. "Veteran continues to recover as Afghanistan name T20I squads". International Cricket Council. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
15. "Dhananjaya de Silva becomes Sri Lanka's 18th Test captain". Daily FT. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
16. "Dhananjaya de Silva replaces Dimuth Karunaratne as Sri Lanka's Test captain". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
17. "Kusal Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga named captains as Sri Lanka announce preliminary squads for Zimbabwe series". India TV News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
18. "Mendis replaces Shanaka as Sri Lanka's ODI captain; Hasaranga to lead in T20Is". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
19. "Afghanistan name ODI squad for Sri Lanka series". International Cricket Council. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
20. "Mujeeb Ur Rahman ruled out of 3-match ODI series". Ceylon Today. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
21. @ACBofficials (14 February 2024). "We have made two changes from our previous game, with Sharafuddin Ashraf and Fareed Ahmad coming in for Gulbadin Naib and Noor Ahmad. Sharafuddin Ashraf was added to the squad as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
22. "Chameera out of second ODI with quadriceps injury". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
23. "Dushmantha Chameera ruled out. Replacement named". Newswire. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
24. "Sri Lanka appoint Dhananjaya de Silva new Test captain". Wisden. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
25. "It's a mismatch on paper, but Afghanistan's batters can take the fight to Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
26. "Afghanistan bowl out hosts Sri Lanka for 439". The Daily Star. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
27. "Chamika Gunasekara subbed out on Test debut after blow to the head". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
28. "AFG vs SL: Ibrahim Zadran hits maiden century to help Afghanistan reduce first innings deficit to 42 against Sri Lanka". Sportstar. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
29. "Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka's first double-centurion? Who'd have thought?". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
30. "Pathum Nissanka becomes first Sri Lankan to smash ODI double century; surpasses Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gayle for insane feat". Hindustan Times. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
31. "Pathum Nissanka hits Sri Lanka's first double-century in ODIs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
32. "Nissanka and Avishka blitz Afghanistan in Sri Lanka's clean sweep". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
33. "Hasaranga and Pathirana bring a thriller home for Sri Lanka". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
34. "Wanindu Hasaranga joins elite T20I list with massive career milestone". International Cricket Council. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
35. "Afghanistan win three-run thriller, but Sri Lanka take T20 series". The Daily Star. Retrieved 21 February 2024.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo