In ODI 30 of the ongoing 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan easily defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Afghanistan amassed 242/3 in 45.2 overs while chasing 242, thanks to some excellent hitting. The chase started off to a bad start for the Afghans when Dilshan Madushanka dismissed opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a four-ball duck. In the 17th over, Madushanka hit once more to dismiss Ibrahim Zadran (39). But from that point on, Afghanistan won handily and it was all theirs. Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghan captain, made a significant contribution by hitting 58* off 74 balls.
Azmatullah Omarzai, meanwhile, rattled out 73* off 63 to lead Afghanistan beyond the finish line. Rahmat Shah, meanwhile, had an effect starting at position three. He scored 62 runs off of 74 balls. Afghanistan was the antithesis of Sri Lanka in the first innings, being calm and composed the entire time, which helped them to bowl out the batting side for 241 on a favourable batting surface. After winning the toss, Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi decided to bowl first. Kusal Perera was replaced by Dimuth Karunaratne as the opening batsman for Sri Lanka, however he did not survive long as he was bowled out by Fazalhaq Farooqi on the second ball of the sixth over.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis then steadied Sri Lanka a little before the latter was four runs short of his fifty. Together, they scored 62 runs off of 77 balls to take the second wicket.
After the 25th over, Mujeeb ur Rahman returned and proceeded to scare Sri Lanka by taking the crucial wickets of Mendis and the highly effective Sadeera Samarawickrama in back-to-back overs. Dhananjaya de Silva was then fired by Rashid Khan, who immediately brought in seasoned player Angelo Mathews. Maheesh Theekshana delivered some strong strikes in the final ten overs, giving Sri Lanka a boost. Ultimately, Mathews dismissed him for a 26-ball 23 while he fell for a 31-ball 29.