Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets in the one-off test match in Colombo on Monday.
It was a winning start for Sri Lanka’s new captain Dhananjaya de Silva while spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took eight wickets in a player-of-the-match performance. Dhananjaya was appointed the skipper of the team in the longest format in January.
Afghanistan were all out for 198 in their first innings after being put in to bat first by the hosts, with only Rahmat Shah (91) having some success against Vishwa Fernando (4-51), Asitha Fernando (3-24) and Jayasuriya (3-67). Sri Lanka posted 439 in reply, as Angelo Mathews (141) and Dinesh Chandimal (107) found form despite the best efforts of Naveed Zadran (4-83).
Afghanistan started their second innings well with Ibrahim Zadran (114) building hundred-run partnerships with Noor Ali (47) and Shah (54). But the last six batters contributed only eight runs, as Jayasuriya took a five-wicket haul.
Afghanistan’s second innings ended at 296, giving Sri Lanka a target of 56, which their openers chased down in 7.2 overs. The two teams will play a three-match One Day International (ODI) series starting on Friday, followed by three T20 Internationals.
