Riaz helps Afghanistan ‘A’ to end on winning note

Match winner Riaz Hassan sweeps to the fence   

By M. Shamil Amit   

Opener Riaz Hassan continued his batting form as he made an unbeaten knock of 74 which guided Afghanistan ‘A’ to record a five wicket win against host Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the fifth ODI match played at the Sooriyawewa Stadium enabling them to end the five match ODI series on a winning note as Sri Lanka ‘A’ clinched the series 3-2.   
Riaz’s unbeaten knock came off in 117 balls which had five boundaries and he associated in three valuable partnerships of 71 runs for the third wicket with Darwish Rasooli 36 with four boundaries followed by 85 run stand for the fourth wicket with stand in skipper Shahadullah Kamal who chipped in with 47 including five boundaries and a six and then an unbroken 39 runs for the sixth wicket with Nangyal Kharoti who remained unbeaten on 27 which helped Afghanistan ‘A’ chasing 198 runs for victory to reach the target in the 45th over.   
The morning session of play saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ invited to take first lease of the wicket undergoing some anxious moments. They lost their top four wickets with the score on 105 in the 23rd over which included a 50 runs stand for the fourth wicket between Nipun Karunanayake and top scorer Pasindu Sooriyabandra who shared another 49 runs stand for the fifth wicket Sonal Dinusha.   
But the separation of the pair saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ losing wickets at regular intervals and the dismissal of Sooriyabandara who made 70 in 92 balls with eight boundaries saw them falling back as right arm pacie Naveed Zadran who bagged four scalps cleaned off the tail to bowl them out for 197 runs.   
The two sides will play their only unofficial Test match from May 11 at the P Sara Stadium.