[Watch] Mohammad Nabi takes a magnificent running catch near boundary ropes to dismiss Angelo Mathews in AFG vs SL 2023 World Cup clash

Veteran Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi took a wonderful catch to send back Angelo Mathews and put brakes on Sri Lanka's progress in the death overs of their World Cup encounter on Monday (October 30). The two Asian teams are squaring off in the 30th match of the 2023 World Cup at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka could only reach 241 in 49.3 overs before losing all the wickets. Opener Pathum Nissanka top scored with 46 (60). A couple of other top-order batters, like Kusal Mendis (39), Sadeera Samarawickrama (36) and Charith Asalanka (22), also got starts but could not convert them.

Afghan bowlers kept chipping away with wickets regularly and reduced Sri Lanka to 185/7. Maheesh Theekshana (29) and Angelo Mathews (23) chipped in with handy contributions to take Sri Lanka to a respectable total.

Mohammad Nabi took a sharp running catch of Angelo Mathews in the penultimate over to dent Sri Lanka's chances of scoring a few more runs. Mathews tried to hit a big shot but could not get the desired power behind it. Nabi, in the long-on region, judged the catch well to send him back to the pavilion.

You can watch Nabi's catch in the video below:

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"That's what we planned, to restrict them under 250"- Rashid Khan after the first innings of AFG vs SL 2023 World Cup clash

At the mid-innings break, Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan reflected on the action that transpired in the first innings and said:

"I think it's a great achievement for me to play for my country and getting that milestone. To play 100 ODIs is a proud moment for me. Hopefully we can make this 100th game very special and win the game. I think it's a good wicket to bat on. We bowled really well. The way we started, the guys bowled really well and just assessed the conditions quickly. That's what we planned - to restrict them under 250.

Rashid continued:

"After the last game and the confidence we have, it's just about playing positive cricket and expressing ourselves. That's what we were expecting of the pitch. We had a couple of practice sessions here, we saw a game between India and Bangladesh here. We thought if we win toss and bowl first we can restrict them under 250. Under lights there could be a lot of dew."

Do you think Afghanistan can chase down the target and keep their 2023 World Cup semi-final hopes alive? Sound off in the comments section.