AFG vs SL, World Cup 2023: Afghanistan, Sri Lanka look to continue winning momentum; LIVE streaming and more

High on confidence following two consecutive win in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Sri Lanka will take on Afghanistan at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Monday.

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Sri Lanka, however, will be without pacer Lahiru Kumara who has been ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury.

Kumara, with figures of 3/35, had been Sri Lanka’s pick of the bowlers against England on 26 October. However, the pacer sustained the injury during a training session in Pune ahead of the Afghanistan clash.

Dushmantha Chameera has been named Kumara’s replacement in the Sri Lanka squad. The Lankans are already missing the services of Matheesha Pathirana, who was ruled out of the World Cup with a shoulder injury, and have been replaced with the veteran Angelo Mathews.

Mathews, though, proved to be a game changer with figures of 2/14 against England.

With two wins from five matches, both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have kept alive their outside hopes of making it to the semifinals, provided they don’t suffer any more hiccups and also other results go their way in the showpiece event.

However, only one team can emerge victorious from this contest, dashing the slim chances of the other.

Sri Lanka will take Afghanistan lightly at their own peril, knowing well that the Afghans are capable of punching above their weight.

Afghanistan have sent shock waves across the world with wins over England and Pakistan and will look to knock the wind out of the sails of Sri Lanka to continue their success story.

Sri Lanka have been guilty of conceding too many runs in the middle overs in the past and they will hope that pacer Chameera can make some effect.

He was part of Sri Lanka’s travelling reserve before getting drafted into their main squad.

Dilshan Madushanka and Kusan Rajitha have taken 11 and 7 wickets so far in the event and will need to produce the goods.

Maheesh Theekshana, however, hasn’t really set things on fire with his spin.

In batting, Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama have emerged as two of their best ODI batters this year and the duo scripted a superlative chase to outwit England the other day.

Nissanka, with his fourth consecutive fifty of this tournament, and Samarawickrama with his second, have got the job done for the Lankans. Kusal Mendis too has scored a ton.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, are coming into the match after recording their highest successful chase in ODIs with a solid top-order display.

Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, with 224 runs, has been their best batter but Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah have also come good in the last match and they will look to carry the confidence against the Lankans.

Azmatullah Omarzai too has a fifty to his name.

If Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi can get the Afghans early wickets then they have the quality in their spin rank with Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who have proved their worth so far, to take care of the rest.

The wicket at the MCA stadium is likely to be another belter and a 300-plus total should be on the cards.

Going by records, Afghanistan have won just thrice in 11 ODIs against Sri Lanka but never in the two meetings in the World Cup.

But two of those wins came in June this year and November last year at Hambantota and Pallekele respectively and Afghanistan will draw inspiration from that when they face the Lankans.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match date

The Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be played on Monday, 30 October.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match time

The Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will start at 2 PM IST. The toss will take place at 1.30 PM IST.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match venue

The Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match LIVE Streaming

The Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Network and live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka head-to-head

Afghanistan do not have a favourable record when it comes to winning ODIs against Sri Lanka. The two teams have met on 11 occasions in ODIs ever since their first meeting in the format in the 2014 Asia Cup, and Sri Lanka have won seven of these matches, compared to Afghanistan’s three. One ODI, that was played in Pallekele in November 2022, ended in a no result.

The two teams have faced off in ODI World Cups on two occasions, in 2015 and 2019, with Sri Lanka winning both of them.

Squads: 

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and Naveen ul Haq.

With inputs from PTI