Mirpur, Bangladesh: In-form Sri Lanka sailed into the summit clash of the Asia Cup cricket tournament with
a resounding 129-run bonus point win over minnows Afghanistan,here today.Opting to bat, the islanders rode on Kumar Sangakkara'spatient 76 and skipper Angelo Mathews' breezy 41-ball 45 to post a competitive 253/6 at the Sher-e-Bangla NationalStadium.
In reply, Afghanistan were bundled out for 124 in 38.4 overs, sealing Sri Lanka's place in the final of the
five-nation continental tournament, and further diminishingIndia's chances.
India have lost two of their three matches and need towin with a bonus point against Afghanistan and
hope that Bangladesh score an upset victory over Pakistan in their last respective round-robin matches.
Sri Lanka are comfortably placed atop the table with 13points from three games.Afghanistan's run-chase never really got the momentum as they lost wickets at regular intervals, slipping to 73 for
five in the 21st over.
Their batting was in stark contrast to the efforts put in by the Afghan bowlers, who kept the free-flowing Lankan batsmen in check for a major part of their innings before Mathews let loose.
Sangakkara, though, was the man who kept the Lankan innings afloat when the going got difficult.
Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi contributed 37, while NoorAli Zadran (21) and Asghar Stanikzai (27) got out aftergetting starts. Nabi hit three fours and a six during his40-ball knock.
The rest of the batting just caved in without putting up any sort of resistance, a far cry from their outing against
hosts Bangladesh, who were humbled by the spirited strife-tornnation a couple of days ago.
Among the wickets for Sri Lanka were Ajantha Mendis (3/11), Thisara Perera (3/29) and Chaturanga de Silva(2/29), who proved to be handful for the Afghani batsmen.
