<p>As Sri Lanka’s Sadeera Samarawickrama sent Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah packing with a stunning catch, the bowlers rallied after lunch to seize control of their one-off encounter at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Rahmat Shah came dangerously close to missing his second career Test century.</p>
<p><img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-384133″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-sadeera-samarawickrama-dismisses-rahmat-shah-with-a-stunning-catch-in-sl-vs-afg-wa.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com sadeera samarawickrama dismisses rahmat shah with a stunning catch in sl vs afg wa” width=”1073″ height=”715″ title=”Sadeera Samarawickrama Dismisses Rahmat Shah with a Stunning Catch in SL vs. AFG | WATCH 3″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-sadeera-samarawickrama-dismisses-rahmat-shah-with-a-stunning-catch-in-sl-vs-afg-wa.jpg 510w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/theindiaprint.com-sadeera-samarawickrama-dismisses-rahmat-shah-with-a-stunning-catch-in-sl-vs-afg-wa-150×100.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1073px) 100vw, 1073px” /></p>
<p>Rahmat batted hard for his 91, hitting 13 boundaries, but after attempting a paddle sweep, he was caught by Sadeera Samarawickrama with an excellent catch.</p>
<p>By teatime in Colombo, Prabath Jayasuriya had reduced the visitors to 168-5 after lunch by taking two wickets, including Rahmat’s.</p>
<p>Rahmat, the backbone of Afghanistan’s Test team, entered the game on the third ball and stabilized the innings when opener Ibrahim Zadran was down for a duck.</p>
<p>After lunch, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi was the first to go after being caught behind while attempting to cut a wide ball from Vishwa Fernando.</p>
<p>In the next over, Jayasuriya dismissed Nasir Jamal for a duck.</p>
<p>Asitha Fernando caught opener Ibrahim leg before wicket, but Noor Ali Zadran and Rahmat’s 57-run partnership steadied the batting and repelled the relentless Sri Lankan seam assault.</p>
<p>Vishwa Fernando, a left-arm seamer, dismissed Noor with a return catch after the latter mishandled an effort to flick the ball on the leg side.</p>
<p>Noor, who was 35 when he made his debut, smashed five boundaries in his 31-run knock.</p>
<p>Since Afghanistan was accepted as a test-playing country in 2018, this is the first test match between the two countries.</p>
<p>After replacing veteran leader Dimuth Karunaratne, who participated in the match as an opening batter, as captain of the test squad, De Silva is leading the team for the first time.</p>
<p>Afghanistan awarded test caps to Naveed Zadran, Zia ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem, and Ali Zadran, who has participated in 51 one-day internationals.</p>
<p>For Sri Lanka, seamer Chamika Gunasekara made his test debut.</p>
<p>After the game, which is not a part of the World Test Championship (WTC), there will be three Twenty20 matches in Dambulla and three One-Day Internationals in Kandy.</p>
