Cricket World Cup 2015: Sri Lanka survive scare as Afghanistan go down after valiant fight

Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by four wickets in a close encounter at Dunedin, as Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis saw the island nation win their first match in the World Cup, with 10 balls to spare and four wickets in hand.

Mahela Jayawardena was the star of the show, scoring 100 from 120 balls as the top order failed to deliver yet again and it was down to veterans Angelo Matthews and company to steady the ship. Matthews played a captain's knock scoring 44 runs after Kumar Sangakkara was bundled by Hamid Hassan, having scored only seven runs.

Perera scored an unbeaten 47 at the end to put the result beyond doubt, in a performance which posed more questions for the South Asian side than answers. Afghanistan were extremely competitive with the ball, having posted a decent score in the first innings, with Hassan taking three scalps at an economy of less than a run-a-ball.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan, who were put to bat after Sri Lanka won the toss, put in a real fight with Asghar Stanikzai the pick of the batsmen, scoring a brilliant 54 to steady the ship. The other batsmen put in decent contributions to take the score beyond the 200-run mark, but will be disappointed to not take the initiative and put some more runs on the board after a good middle order performance.

This was Sri lanka's first win of the tournament and Matthews will be hoping that his side can push on after the initial disappointment against New Zealand.