Cricket Highlights, 05 Mar: BAN vs AFG (2nd T20I), IND vs SL (1st Test – Day 2), PAK vs AUS (1st Test – Day 2)

The 2nd and final T20I game of the 2-match series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the 2nd day of the 1st Test between India and Sri Lanka, and the 2nd day of the 1st Test between Pakistan and Australia rolled on the field yesterday. Continue reading the article to know the interesting happenings of the day’s games.

BAN vs AFG (2nd T20I)

In the second and final T20I match of the series on Saturday, the visiting Afghanistan has picked up a big victory by 8 wickets with 14 balls to spare against the host Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Bangladesh was able to score 115 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs due to the aggressive bowling of the Afghan bowlers.

Mushfiqur Rahim scored the highest 30 runs off 25 balls for the Tigers. In addition, Mahmudullah scored 21 and Mohammad Naim and Liton Das both played an innings of 13 runs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi took the maximum number of 3 wickets each for the Afghans. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi took 1 wicket each.

Chasing an easy target of 116 runs, Afghanistan lost just two wickets and reached the port of victory in 17.4 overs. Opener Hazratullah Zazai played a devastating innings of unbeaten 59 off 45 balls hitting 3 fours and 5 sixes for the team. Besides, Usman Ghani scored 47 runs. Mahedi Hasan and Mahmudullah took one wicket each for the Tigers.

Afghanistan won the match and drew the 2-match T20 series at 1-1.

Scoreboard:
Bangladesh – 115/9 (20.0)
Afghanistan – 121/2 (17.4)
Result – Afghanistan won by 8 wickets
Player of the match – Azmatullah Omarzai
Player of the series – Fazalhaq Farooqi

IND vs SL (1st Test – Day 2)

Ravindra Jadeja played an outstanding innings in Virat Kohli’s 100th Test. After being unbeaten on 175 with the bat, he has taken 1 wicket with the ball so far at the end of the second day. Not only because of Jadeja, but the Lankans have also lost wickets in regular intervals due to Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah’s great bowling as well. As a result, at the end of the second day, Sri Lanka collected 108 runs for 4 wickets.

Earlier, India declared their first innings after scoring 574 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 175 runs. India could have given him a chance to score a double century. But the team’s success precedes the individual’s innings. That is why Rohit Sharma declared the innings and sent Sri Lanka to bat.

Rohit’s decision deserves praise. The Lankans got a chance to bat 43 overs on the second day. That is why they lost 4 wickets. Sri Lanka is still 466 runs behind that of India’s first innings. They still have to score 266 runs to avoid the follow-on.

At First, Sri Lankan openers, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne, put on a 48-run stand. Thirimanne was dismissed for just 17 runs off 60 balls. Karunaratne made 28 runs. Experienced batsman Angelo Mathews was out for 22 runs.

Then Dhananjaya de Silva returned to the dressing room with 1 run. Pathum Nissanka, who is a beacon of hope for the Lankans, me out to bat today morning with 26 runs and Charith Asalanka is unbeaten on 1. Ashwin took 2 wickets, and Bumrah and Jadeja took 1 wicket each.

Scoreboard:
India (1st Innings) – 574/8 (D) (129.2)
Sri Lanka (1st Innings) – 108/4 (43.0)

PAK vs AUS (1st Test – Day 2)

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has declared the first innings after scoring 476 runs for the loss of 4 wickets on the second day of the match. However, before the end of the day, Australia got a chance to bat only 1 over, where they managed to collect 5 runs. Australia is still 471 runs behind. They have all of the 10 wickets in hand.

Pakistani batsman Imam-ul-Haq (132*) and Azhar Ali (74*) came on the field to start the second day’s game for Pakistan. They could not score double-centuries but played two big innings. Imam played a career-best innings of 157 off 358 balls with 16 fours and 2 sixes and returned to the dressing room after falling victim to Pat Cummins.

Part-time spinner Marnus Labuschagne sent off Azhar Ali to the pavilion at the other end of the wicket. Before leaving the field, he scored 185 off 361 balls with 15 fours and 3 sixes. After that captain, Babar Azam was run out for 36 runs. Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten on 29 and Iftikhar Ahmed remained unbeaten on 13 runs.

For Australia, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, and Marnus Labuschagne took one wicket each. However, the full 90 overs of the day were not played. Only 73 overs were played due to lack of light. Aussie openers Usman Khawaja (5) and David Warner (0) finished the second day remaining unbeaten.

Scoreboard:
Pakistan (1st Innings) – 476/4 (D) (162.0)
Australia (1st Innings) – 5/0 (1.0)