Dunith Wellalage's Father Passes Away During Match, Sanath Jayasuriya Broke The News To Him

The match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2025 on Thursday, September 18, ended with a bang with a result no one thought of after such incredible knocks by Afghan players. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and elected to bat first, and the team got off to a quick start, scoring 26 runs in the first two overs.

But then the game changed. Sri Lanka's young pacer Nuwan Thushara bowled so sharply that the Afghan batsmen couldn't recover. His moving deliveries were hitting the stumps directly.

Gurbaz lost his wicket while trying to play a big shot, and Karim Janat and Sediqullah Atal also fell to Thushara's bowling. Afghanistan's top order collapsed like a pack of cards, and the innings came to a halt.

Dunith Wellalage and Hasaranga then bowled so tightly in the middle overs that scoring runs became difficult, wickets continued to fall, and by the 13th over, the score was 79/6. It seemed as if the Afghan team might not even cross 120.

Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan—The Game Changer

While the entire team was on the back foot, Mohammad Nabi came to the front foot and changed the course of the game. Together with Captain Rashid, he stabilized the innings somehow; Rashid scored 24 runs off 23 balls.

Mohammad Nabi's 5 Sixes Changed The Final Over

When the captain handed the 20th over to Sri Lankan spinner Wellalage, perhaps no one expected it to be so costly. Nabi conceded a total of 32 runs in this over, including 5 sixes, 1 no-ball, and 1 single.

This over became the second most expensive over in Sri Lanka's T20I history. Nabi scored 60 runs in just 22 balls, and Afghanistan recovered from a seemingly lost target to reach 169/8.

After Mohammad Nabi's five sixes, Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage suffered an unexpected blow. Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in Abu Dhabi to qualify for the Super Fours without losing. But amid the victory celebrations, Dunith was informed that his father, Suranga Wellalage, had passed away from a heart attack.

54-year-old Suranga, a former school cricket team captain, was always proud of his son's success. Unfortunately, he passed away during the match in Colombo. When he got to know about this tragic news, Dunith decided to leave the team and immediately leave for home. It is now unclear whether he will be able to play in the remaining matches of the tournament or not.