Faulty counting triggers Afghanistan’s exit; Sri Lanka alive in Asia Cup

It was such a thin margin which decided Sri Lanka’s passage to the Super 4 stage, where they will be joined by Bangladesh from Group B.

Rashid Khan buried his face in his hands as Mujeeb Ur Rahman holed out to long on where Sadeera Samarawickrama took the offering and tumbled on to the ground off the first ball of the 38th over. In the Afghanistan dressing room, they looked inconsolable. Needing three more runs in pursuit of 291/8, they had to get there in 37.1 overs to make it to the at the expense of Sri Lanka. It looked all but over. But only it didn’t. There was still plenty of life in it. But only somebody forgot to tell the Afghans. Their head coach Jonathan Trott, who sat for a major part of the last few overs chewing his nails, should have done better.

With a wicket still in hand, had they got to 295 in 37.4 overs, they could have still boarded the flight from Lahore to Colombo to play the Super 4s. It was a schoolboy mathematical error: to qualify, they needed six runs off four deliveries and though they had only one wicket in hand, with Rashid batting on 27 of 16 deliveries, it was very much in their limits. Instead, their eyes and mind didn’t look beyond the target which at that stage was three runs of one delivery. Had they managed to get two runs off the first ball of the 38th over, they would have got three more balls to get six runs.

It was such a thin margin which decided Sri Lanka’s passage to the Super 4 stage, where they will be joined by Bangladesh from Group B.

The Asia Cup, having seen a few damp squibs over the past few days in Pallekele, came alive in Lahore. It was perhaps the sort of contest that was needed, where the emotions overflowed in the dressing rooms and in the stands of the Gaddafi Stadium.