Sri Lanka succumbed to a final over defeat to Afghanistan in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium in Dambulla on Wednesday (February 21). While the match went down to the wire, a critical decision did not go Sri Lanka's way in the final over and they ended up losing the match by 3 runs. The home team was disappointed after the umpire refused to deem a full toss from Wafadar Momand no-ball even though replays seemed the ball passed batter Kamindu Mendis by his shoulder.
While the batter instinctively tried to review the decision, he was not allowed to do the same. For context, while there is a provision which allows players to sent decisions not involving the fall of a wicket to the third umpire in the Indian Premier League (IPL), no such rule has yet entered the international cricket arena. The decision, had it gone in favour of Sri Lanka, could have even made a different result as it would have meant an added run plus an extra ball.
Mendis, looking set on 51 off 35, was on strike for the final over when the hosts needed 19 to win. While they got four off the first ball of the over after a misfueld at fine leg, Mendis then survived a LBW shut off a review before the team got a boundary off the third ball. With 11 needed off 3 balls, it was this delivery which was a high full toss and the umpire deemed it a legal delivery.
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Rahmanullah Gurbaz Sets Up Afghanistan's Consolatory Win
Batting first, it was Rahmanullah Gurbaz's innings that set up Afghanistan's victory. The right-handed batter scored 70 off 43 balls as Afghanistan posted 209/5. Hazratullah Zazai also chipped in with a valuable 45 off 22. With the ball in hand, Mohammad Nabi scalped 2 for 35 as Afghanistan earned a win. Having said that Sri Lanka clinched the three-match series as they had already won the first two matches of the bilateral affair.