Asia Cup: Sri Lanka look to avenge defeat against the Afghans

They were in danger of an early exit in their own tournament but Sri Lanka were handed a lifeline by Bangladesh’s death bowling and extras after their batsmen had laid the foundation. And now, having come through that tricky test, Sri Lanka have revenge on their minds as they go into their first Super Four fixture of the DP World Asia Cup.

The Emerald Island square off against Afghanistan again, this time at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday night, hoping to avenge their defeat in the group stage.

Sri Lanka were done in by a superior Afghan team in the tournament opener at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. They were all out for a paltry 105 and Mohammad Nabi’s men knocked off the runs with eight wickets in hand.

And Sri Lanka hope they can give a better account of themselves in Sharjah after their morale boosting victory over the Bangla Tigers.

"We managed to win and the motivation that the players have is immense,” batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa said looking ahead to the game against the Afghans.

“So going forward into Super Fours it will be quite interesting,” he added.

The 30-year-old said that the experience of having played together as team over the last year or so has brought them closer as a team.

"We are happy because after winning a game, it's quite thrilling and what we need is winning games. We came here to justify ourselves to the UAE. This tournament was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately, with the situation back home, we couldn't keep it in Sri Lanka," said Rajapaksa.

"But with all the experience that the players have gained playing together in the last maybe 12 or 15 months, it has brought us much closer as a team," he added.

Rajapaksa said that they had been quite disappointed and hurt by the humbling at the hands of the Afghans.

"It was quite shameful for us, the 11 who played this game, and we were not expecting to be bowled out for 105," he said.

"Of course, Afghanistan are a pretty decent side when it comes to T20s but after the loss we went into a small shell for a couple of days, but we knew how to overcome that situation,” added Rajapaksa.

There was a bit of a needle between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the run-up to the game because of the comments made and that spilled over to the end of the game when all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne celebrated the last-over by doing the ‘Snake dance.’

And while Rajapaksa likened the rivalry to that of India and Pakistan, he played down the banter between the two side.

"The statement that the captain (Dasun Shanaka) made, I don't think he meant any wrong," Rajapaksa said.

"Of course, when you compare the (dangerous) Afghanistan bowlers, what we meant was we had a slight advantage facing the Bangladeshi bowlers. Like India-Pakistan, Sri Lanka-Bangladesh is also a good rivalry, but we are friends off the field.

"Some words could hurt the players and hurt the staff. But what the captain meant was not what went through the media,” he clarified.

Today's match

Super Four

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

6 pm UAE Time

Head-to-head

Matches 2

Sri Lanka won 1

Afghanistan won 1