Predicted Playing XI | Pitch & Weather Conditions | Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Match Preview

Predicted Playing XI | Pitch & Weather Conditions | Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Match Preview:

Contents

HEAD TO HEAD: WEATHER AND PITCH REPORT:PLAYING XI (PROBABLE): PREDICTIONS: WHERE TO WATCH:

With Australia’s win over Ireland, the qualification scenario for group 1 teams has become more interesting. Currently, England, Australia and New Zealand are in the fight for securing spots in the semi finals. Although, Sri Lanka has few chances as well but their fate is not just in their hands anymore. To keep their hopes alive, the Shanaka-led men will have to beat Afghanistan in this game.

Afghanistan are sitting at the last place in the table. Owing to two washouts and a narrow defeat at the hands of the English team, the Afghanistan team has a negligible chance of reaching the top-four round of the event. Their next fixtures are against Sri Lanka and Australia, both of whom will take the opportunity with both hands to defeat Nabi’s men to cement their prospects of reaching the next round. The news of the Afghan opener, Hazratullah Zazai being ruled out of the mega event due to injury can be the final nail in the coffin for Nabi’s team. This will disturb the whole lineup as Zazai’s replacement, Gulbadin Naib, bats down the order. The Afghan men can but hope for things to go in their way as they get geared for encountering the Asian champion and later, the title defenders.

Sri Lanka have faced two back to back defeats which scuppered their chances of reaching the finals mercilessly. From here, the Islanders can reach the semi-finals by defeating their next opponents, Afghanistan and England. Failing to triumph over even one of their next opponents will cost the Shanaka-led men their remaining

HEAD TO HEAD:

Both the Asian teams, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, have faced each other 3 times in T20Is. The results incline towards Sri Lanka as they have won 2 matches out these three, while the remaining 1 match was bagged by the Afghanistan team. The last time both teams encountered each other was in this year’s Asia Cup.

WEATHER AND PITCH REPORT:

The Gabba is hosting back to back matches and its bouncy pitch, thus far, has not disappointed bowlers. Both spinners and pacers have found luck here as the true bounce and pace helps them to play havoc with the opposition’s batting order. The pacers in the initial overs are deadly here. Just a day ago, Haris Rauf delivered a nasty bouncer to Bas De Leede on the same pitch, which gave him a cut just under his eye.

The predictable bounce here also helps batsmen to score freely, as reading the ball is quite easy here. The average score for the side batting first is around 168, which is a good and defendable total. If rain does not spoil the show, the contest will be very exciting between both teams at the Gabba.

PLAYING XI (PROBABLE):

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nissanka/Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara.

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi (c), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

PREDICTIONS:

If rain does not end up washing the game out, the chances of Sri Lanka ruling over the Afghanistan team are quite high.

Both teams had won one match each against each other in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Nevertheless, Afghanistan was marginally better than the Asian champions as the latter had a hairbreadth escape in their second match against Nabi’s men, which was followed by a defeat at the hands of Afghanistan later in the tournament. The main problem for the Afghanistan team will be the upset in the lineup which the injury has caused. The absence of quality batters in the Afghanistan team can become a nightmare for them at the Gabba as well. The spin unit of Afghanistan, although, is decent but the Afghan pacemen will have to step up on a pitch like the Gabba, to get rid of the Sri Lankan top order early.

Sri Lanka’s openers and other top-order batsmen will be looking to utilise their ability to script a big total to firm their feet in the game. Further, the lethal Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Harasanga will be very useful on a pitch like the Gabba. Thus, increasing the likelihood of Sri Lanka winning the match.