Sri Lanka cruise to final, defeating Afghanistan in Asia Cup

DHAKA: Sri Lanka recorded their third straight win to go on top in the Asia Cup 2014 when they defeated Afghanistan by 129 runs here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Monday.

Chasing 254 to win, Afghanistan batsmen could not resist against accurate bowling by Sri Lanka and were bowled out for 124 in 38.4 overs.

The main scorers were their captain Mohammad Nabi (37), Asghar Stanikzai (27) and Noor Ali Zadran (21).

For Sri Lanka, off-spinner Ajantha Mendis and seamer Thisara Perera captured three wickets each for 11 and 29, respectively while left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva and pacer Suranga Lakmal claimed two wickets each.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara cracked his 85th One-Day International (ODI) half-century and an unbeaten 45 not out from Angelo Mathews helped SSri Lanka set a 254-run target against Afghanist Afghanistan.

Electing to bat first, Sri Lankan batsmen failed to find momentum as none apart from Sangakkara and Mathews to an extent could make a mark against the Afghanistan side.

Mirwais Ashraf was the pick among the bowlers for them, as he claimed two wickets for 29 runs off his eight overs.