Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka

SL vs. AFG, 1st ODI

Preview 

Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will get into a gripping affair for the first game of the three-match One Day International series which is scheduled to be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Friday, February 9. 

The match between the sides is expected to deliver a thrilling contest with a firecracker battle on the cards as each side possesses world-class batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders. Kusal Mendis will lead the home team while Hashmatullah Shahidi will be the captain of the Afghan side. 

In head-to-head battles, both sides have crossed swords 12 times, out of which the Lankan Lions emerged victorious on seven occasions and Afghanistan on four, with one match ending in no result. 

Match Details

Match: SL vs AFG, 1st ODI, Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka, 2024

Date: Friday, February 09, 2024

Time: 2:30 PM

Venue: Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele

Pitch and Weather Report

The pitch at the Pallekele ground equally assists the batters and the bowlers. Both sides will get assistance from the pitch, batters need to be cautious about the pace and bounce of the surface before trying out their shots. On the other hand, spinners will get some extra turn in the latter half of the game. The captain winning the toss might choose to chase the target. 

SL vs. AFG Squads

SL: Kusal Mendis (c), Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Shevon Daniel, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Sahan Arachchige, Dunith Wellalage

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Qais Ahmad, Naveed Zadran, Ikram Alikhil

SL vs. AFG Probable Playing XIs

SL: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (C/WK), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage,Sahan Arachchige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Qais Ahmed, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran

Match Prediction

As Sri Lanka is playing on their home ground, they are our pick for this match. However, we don’t strike off Afghanistan’s potential as they are the most emerging side in World cricket. Hence, we anticipate a good fight in the inaugural match of the ODI series. 

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