Afghanistan gained an upper hand in the match early on as Shapoor Zadran and Mirwais Ashraf rattled Sri Lanka by dismissing openers Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera respectively.
The Sri Lankan openers had trouble negotiating Afghanistan bowlers as they faced 5.4 overs to post only 14 on the board after Mathews won the toss and opted to bat.
Perera (33), who hit 4 boundaries and 1 six, tried to consolidate the innings after losing the first wicket early but failed to carry on with his knock.
Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal then put up a gritty 74-run partnership to steady the Sri Lankan innings after Mirwais Ashraf forced Mahela Jayawardene (14) to play a loose shot that was taken by skipper Mohammad Nabi.
However, Hamza Hotak struck to break the 74-run partnership between the duo when he first scalped Chandimal (26) before Sangakkara (76) was run out after some brilliant work in the field by Nabi.
Sangakkara hit 6 smashing boundaries and a scintillating six in his determined innings that saw him reach his 85th ODI half-century.
Chathuranga de Silva and Mathews tried to give Sri Lanka some respite after that as the duo put up a 26-run partnership for the 6th wicket; however, De Silva (17) was caught by Mirwais Ashraf off the bowling of Dawlat Zadran.
Mathews then continued his attack as he blasted his way to put up a 69-run stand with Thisara Perera for the 7th wicket that allowed Sri Lanka to reach a respectable total in the match.
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