Sangakkara hit 3 boundaries en-route his 85th ODI half-century and also put up a steady 50-plus run stand with Dinesh Chandimal after Mirwais Ashraf dismissed Mahela Jayawardene to jolt Sri Lanka.
Ashraf forced Jayawardene (14) to play a loose shot that was taken comfortably at mid-on by skipper Mohammad Nabi.
Earlier, Shapoor Zadran and Mirwais Ashraf rattled Sri Lanka by dismissing Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera respectively.
Sri Lankan openers had trouble negotiating Afghanistan bowlers as they faced 5.4 overs to post only 14 on the board after skipper Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to bat.
Perera tried to consolidate Sri Lankan innings after losing first wicket early with Kumar Sangakkara but failed to carry his knock.
Sri Lanka brought in paceman Suranga Lakmal in place of spinner Sachitra Senanayake.
Afghanistan brought back Noor Ali Zadran and Dawlat Zadran for Karim Sadiq and Hamid Hassan from the line-up.
Sri Lanka are sitting comfortably atop the points table with eight points after scoring back-to-back victories against Pakistan and India.
With two wins and a healthy run-rate of +0.168, Sri Lanka have virtually assured themselves of a berth in the finals of Asia Cup.
After steamrolling Bangladesh for their first major win over a Test-playing nation, giantkillers Afghanistan eyeing another major upset against Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan's hopes of further progress in the tournament would depend on the outcome of the match.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Chathuranga de Silva, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga
Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai, Nawroz Mangal, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Hamza Hotak
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