ICC World Cup 2023, SL vs AFG: Here's all you need to know

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Kusal Mendis (Pic: File Pic)

After a dominating win by the hosts over the defending champions, the ICC World Cup 2023 now heads towards another interesting encounter. Sri Lanka will clash with Afghanistan at the Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The coin for the toss will be flipped around 1.30 pm and the match will start at 2 pm.

Both the teams will play their sixth match of the ICC World Cup 2023. Sri Lanka is in the fifth spot in the points table, whereas, Afghanistan is in the seventh spot. The Lions have won two matches out of the five games that they have played and even the Afghans have won two matches.

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The Lankans have faced Afghanistan in 11 ODI matches so far and are leading with seven wins. On the other hand, Afghanistan has won just three matches. One match between both the teams ended with a tie.

Sri Lanka so far had a decent ICC World Cup 2023 campaign, but the team underwent a lot of injury issues. First, their captain Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh injury. Then Kusal Mendis was hospitalised after scoring a century against Pakistan and now Sri Lanka's pacer Lahiru Kumara who took three wickets against England in their last clash is ruled out of the remainder of the ICC World Cup 2023. He is suffering from a left thigh muscle injury and Dushmantha Chameera is named as a replacement player.

Chameera was not included in Sri Lanka's initial 15-member World Cup squad after he suffered an injury during the Lanka Premier League. But later, the right-arm quick was called up as a travelling reserve along with veteran Angelo Mathews.

Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews will be the most eyed player in today's match after his performance against England because the 35-year-old had bagged important wickets of Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali.

Afghanistan is doing fine under Hashmatullah Shahidi's captaincy, but will eagerly look to secure a win against the Lankans in today's clash.

It is definitely going to be an exciting clash between the two teams as Sri Lanka try to make it to the top four.

Squads:

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Kumara, 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 (w/k), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (w/k), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and Naveen ul Haq.