The Afghan team missed out on qualifying for the Super 4 of the 2023 Asian Cup after suffering a narrow two-run loss in a crucial match against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had scored 291 runs in 50 overs after starting first in that match. After that, Afghanistan had to match that goal in 37.1 overs to reach Super-4.
Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said after the loss to Sri Lanka he was proud of his players who gave their 100 percent on the field despite the disappointing two-run loss to Sri Lanka at the Asian Cup. However, he also apologized to the fans.
After losing two rounds to Sri Lanka, Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said: “I’m very disappointed about that (losing and not making Super 4).” We challenged well. We gave 100 percent. Proud of the way the team played. I think we’ve played good cricket in the ODI format for the last two years.
He continued: “We are still learning a lot. We learned a lot of positive things from this tournament. We are closer to the World Cup. We will learn from what we did wrong here and do better at the World Cup.” Supported “We were very, very happy. We tried our best to give something back to them. We feel sorry for you.”
At the same time, Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka was relieved that somehow the side had managed to win. He said: “It was very difficult. It was difficult to defend that point. Nabi played a brilliant inning that nearly took the game out of our hands. But in the end we managed to win.”