Afghanistan's golden run in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup continued as Sri Lanka found themselves on the receiving end of another clinical run-chase from the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side in Pune on Monday, October 30. Sri Lanka were guilty of being too subdued with the bat and lost a flurry of wickets in the end as, despite a decent fight from the middle-order, the 1996 champions could only get to a score of 240, which was below-par on a really good surface at the MCA Stadium.
Afghanistan, like they did against Pakistan, chased the target down without breaking a sweat as the likes of Rahmat Shah, captain Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai starred in a neat run-chase as they got home with 28 balls to spare. This was Afghanistan's third win of the tournament and are the only side remaining in the race to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the semifinals.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, suffered their fourth loss of the tournament and are on the verge of early exit. This loss also saw Sri Lanka register most defeats for a team in the Cricket World Cup history as the Men in Blue surpassed Zimbabwe to have lost 43 matches out of 86 played. Zimbabwe has 42 losses in its name.
England and Pakistan, who are struggling for form in the ongoing World Cup have lost 37 and 36 matches respectively.
Most defeats in ODI World Cup history
Sri Lanka - 43 losses in 86 matches (1975-2023)
Zimbabwe - 42 losses in 57 matches (1983-2015)
England - 37 losses in 89 matches (1975-2023)
Pakistan - 36 losses in 85 matches (1975-2023)
West Indies - 35 losses in 80 matches (1975-2019)
Sri Lanka next face the table-toppers India while Afghanistan have a chance to get ahead in the table with two more points as they face the Dutch in Lucknow on Friday, November 3.
