Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have faced each other twice in the ODI's with Sri Lanka leading the scoreline 2-0.
In
Match 3 of Asia
Cup 2018, Angelo Mathews’ Sri Lanka will lock horns with
Afghanistan led by Ashgar Afghan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi
today. After 137-run drubbing by Bangladesh in tournament opener,
today’s match is a must win game for Sri Lanka as they are playing
their last group B game while Afghanistan have one more game against
Bangladesh.
Despite starting their Asia Cup campaign on a losing
note, Sri Lanka can take few positives from their previous game. The
return of Lasith Malinga in the playing 11 after a gap of one year
gives a much-needed boast to their bowling line-up as he took 4
wickets using his trade-mark Yorker, bouncers and slower deliveries.
Both teams have faced each other twice in the ODI's with Sri Lanka
leading the scoreline 2-0.
Sri
Lanka Team news
In
the absence of Danuskha Gunathilaka and Dinesh Chandimal, Lankan
batting looked fragile. Upul Tharanga showed some positive intent at
the top but failed to stick around and threw his wicket playing too
many shots.
Other Sri Lankan players failed to reach the 20 run mark
and it was the contribution from Dilruwan Perera and Suranga Lakmal
that helped Lankans reach the three-figure mark. Meanwhile, the Kusal
Mendis experiment at the top didn't work out but they might take
another chance with the opening combination or they can use Dickwella
at the top of the order and play Kusal Mendis at the Number 3 or 4
position. The return of Lasith Malinga is a major boost but spinners
have to chip-in with wickets in the middle overs and must restrict
the run flow. The major concern for Lankans is their death bowling
which looked brittle against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka have lost 30 of 40
matches since the start of 2017 and the trend might continue if they
don't bring their A-game against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
team news
Afghanistan
have had a impressive run in 2018 so far, beating Zimbabwe and
Ireland, apart from winning the qualifiers to book a berth in the
2019 World Cup. Afghanistan can learn from Asia Cup about how to
perform in pressure situations while battling against quality sides.
Afghanistan has three frontline spinners Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur
Rahman and Sharafuddin Ashraf alongside all-rounder Mohammad Nabi in
their squad. The team ranked tenth in ICC ODI rankings will depend on
Rashid Khan heavily.
He is ranked number 2 in the ICC Bowlers
Rankings while 17-year-old Mujeeb managed to create his own identity
in the last 12 months. However, it's Afghanistan's batting that has
let them down in recent times. Their last three defeats have all come
when their batsmen have failed to reach 200. The onus will be on
captain Asghar Afghan, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah
Shenwari to support their bowlers...Read
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