Afghanistan has sent Sri Lanka packing from the Asia Cup in UAE. The five-times Asia Cup champions exited the tournament after a second straight defeat to Afghanistan by 91 runs.

The 1996 World Cup winners were knocked out early from the tournament. Earlier, Sri Lanka had miserably lost to Bangladesh. Afghanistan continued to rise in the platform of international cricket. This was brought about with their 91-run win over Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

It was imperative for Sri Lanka to win the Group B match if they wanted to stay in the tournament. But they were completely outwitted by Afghanistan’s smart batting tactics. They put up a fighting total of 249 all out at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The Sri Lankan batting was crushed by the spinner Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The five-time former winners were bowled out for 158 in 41.2 overs.

Sri Lanka dug their own graves with two run outs. Their skipper, Angelo Mathews played a reckless shot off Nabi’s ball and this resulted in a catch out and the skipper’s departure to the pavilion at just 22 runs.

This has become Afghanistan’s first-ever victory against Sri Lanka in three one-day internationals. They previously lost in the Asia Cup 2014 and the World Cup, a year later.

Since January 2017, Sri Lanka has lost 30 of their 40 matches. On Saturday, they lost against Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dubai.

Afghanistan’s total of 249 can be credited to Rahmat Shah and Ihsanullah Janat scoring 72 runs and 45 runs, respectively. During his 90 ball knock, Shah struck five boundaries and added 50 for the second wicket with Janat after Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat on the flat pitch.

Defending champions India, Pakistan and qualifier HongKong have been placed in Group A. But Sri Lanka losing even before India starts playing is surely an interesting turn of events for this year’s Asia Cup.