A huge wicket for Afghanistan. They were quickly able to get rid of Sri Lanka's dangerous batter, Pathum Nissanka. The opener went back to the pavilion after making only 6 runs against 5 deliveries.

A back-of-the-length delivery from Azmatullah Omarzai forced the batter to make a mistake. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, with a diving effort, took a clinical catch. Like Afghanistan in the first innings of the match, Sri Lanka also lost their first wicket in the 3rd over of the innings. An action-packed match at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. After a highly entertaining first inning, Sri Lanka, who already got wins in the last couple of Asia Cup 2025 matches, went into the field with a bat to chase a target of 170 runs.

Nissanka could be the decisive person of the man because of his recent performances. Against Bangladesh he scored 50, and against Hong Kong he played a 68-run knock. In this match too, against Afghanistan, the batter was looking in fine touch; he even hit a boundary and perhaps was in a hurry to score runs at a faster pace.

Read More: Kusal Perera takes acrobatic catch to dismiss Darwish Rasooli in SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2025 match

Pathum Nissanka departed early in the match

When he saw the back of the length delivery, around the leg stump, he could not hold himself back. Azmatullah Omarzai lands this back of a length and around the leg, begging to be put away. Pathum Nissanka hooks it away, knowing that the short fine is up in the circle, but fails to keep it down and hits it from the bottom half of the bat straight at that fielder.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman, with fine reflexes, threw his body in front and took the ball before it touched the ground. The pace of the balls made the catch more difficult than it looked. Sri Lanka lost their first wicket for only 22 runs on the scoreboard.