Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka in another World Cup upset

INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/ AFP

Afghanistan pulled off their third major shock of the ODI World Cup when they sent Sri Lanka crashing to a seven-wicket defeat.

Chasing 242 to win, Afghanistan rode on the back of crucial innings from Azmatullah Omarzai (73 not out), Rahmat Shah (62) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (58 not out) to reach their target with 28 balls to spare.

Afghanistan, who stunned defending champions England and former champions Pakistan earlier in the tournament, now have three wins and three losses from their six group games.

Put into bat, Sri Lanka were bowled out for a below-par 241 in 49.3 overs as the Afghans struck at regular intervals to peg them back.

Pathum Nissanka (46), Kusal Mendis (39), Sadeera Samrawickrama (36), Maheesh Theekshana (29) and Angelo Mathews (23) contributed the bulk of the runs.

Afghanistan's left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi was declared player of the match for his four-wicket haul (4-34).

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