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Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka toss update: Afghanistan won the toss, and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi invited Sri Lanka to have a bat in the ICC World Cup match at Pune’s MCA Stadium.
Sri Lanka made two changes to their lineup, bringing in Dimuth Karunaratne in place of Kusal Perera at the top of the order and replacing Lahiru Kumara with Dushmantha Chameera. Kumara has been ruled out with a thigh injury after registering a match-winning haul of 3/35 against England, for which he was adjudged the Player of the Match.
Afghanistan made only one change — bringing back seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi in place of wrist spinner Noor Ahmed, who starred in their victory over Pakistan with a haul of 3/49.
Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka preview: Both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will be fighting to keep their hopes of reaching the 2023 ICC World Cup semi-finals alive when they square off in Pune on Monday.
World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table
Both Afghanistan and 1996 world champions Sri Lanka enter the upcoming contest on the back of clinical eight-wicket victories.
While the Afghans chased down a target of 283 against Pakistan in Chennai, Sri Lanka bundled defending champions England out for a modest 156 and recovered from a shaky start and cruised home with nearly half of their overs to spare.
Both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan sit on four points each after winning two and losing three in their five outings so far, with the Lankans sitting just below the semi-final spots at fifth thanks to their superior Net Run Rate (-0.205). Inferior NRR is also the reason why Afghanistan sit one place below Pakistan, though the latter have played one match extra.
The upcoming contest is only the second of the World Cup taking place at Pune’s MCA Stadium. India had earlier defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in a chase of 257 on 19 October.
Teams:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
English (US)