Afghanistan’s 2025 Asian Cup run ended in the group stage after a six-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.
Released on September 18, 2025
Sri Lanka cried out a six-wicket victory in Abu Dhabi to eliminate Afghanistan, a semi-finalist of the 2024 T20 World Cup from the Asian Cup.
Sri Lanka took the lead in Group B, and Bangladesh also qualified for the Super 4 with two wins and losses ahead of Afghanistan, earning third consecutive victory.
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Opening batter Kusal Mendis’s undefeated 74-off 52 balls are over the brink of affording Sri Lanka’s prestigious 171-4 run chase against spin-heavy Afghanistan on Thursday.
Mohammadnavi (60) Five Big Six against Spinner Danis Weraraj in the Finals that offered Afghan hopes after Captain Rashid Khan won a toss and selected a bat.
Mendis neutralized the spin trio with his well-executed sweep shot. Wrist spinner Noru Ahmad scored 1-37 from 3 overs with a rare, expensive T20 figure on the left arm spinner. Rashid also failed to penetrate Mendis’s defense in a quiet middle over and came back 0-23 from the 4th over.
Navi (1-20) got a wicket on the power play when Kamil Mishra tipped a low catch to the cover before Mendis and Kusal Perera (28) put the pursuit back on track in the 45-run stands.
Captain Chalis Asaranka earned 17 times from 17 balls in the course of his death, with Kamindu Mendis (not 26) and Kusar earning Ahmad and fast bowler Fazalhak Faoki (0-38).
“We didn’t bowl the same way we needed, so we didn’t win,” Rashid said.
“We had a big chance in our last game (against Bangladesh). We didn’t chase the 150. We won the semi-finals in the final T20 World Cup.
Nuwan Thushara (4-18) was Afghanistan’s finest and refined, with three wickets inside PowerPlay, including two Immaculate Inwingers rattling the stumps of Sediqullah Atal (18) and Karim Jannat (1).
Ibrahim Zadran scored 24 on 27 balls and Afghanistan slid 114-7 in 17.1 overs when Rashid was bowled neatly by another Thushara Ball.
Sri Lanka has stood out in the field to limit Afghan abuse until the 18th, with Kusar Perera drawing out the outstanding catch of Ramamarla Ghabaz and juggling the edge of the boundary to dismiss Darwish Rathor.
However, Sri Lanka got scratched late in the innings when the all-around was supposed to have caught Navi at 6am before knocking off just 22 balls in his slow onslaught.
Navi scored 46 of the 49 runs Afghanistan made in the final two overs, first hitting Deshmantha Chamera (1-50), earning the penultimate consecutive boundary, smashing the spinner’s first five legal deliveries while smashing the spinner’s first five legal deliveries in the final.
“I’m really pleased with the performance today. It was a near perfect game for us,” Asalanca said. “Before ahead, Pacer was at work and only made a mistake once. It’s the last thing. But apart from that, we did a good job.”
