Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan 1st ODI | D3 Guide

Venue Guide (Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium)

• Pitch Report: The pitch at Hambantota is a good one for batting. The batters will enjoy their time on the crease. There will be some help for the pacers with the new ball and the spinners will get good assistance on this wicket as well. Teams may look to chase after winning the toss.
• Weather: It will be a partly cloudy day and the temperature will be around 29–31 degrees Celsius. It will be a very humid day with the humidity being around 70–80% during the game.

Dependable Trio for D3

• Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan) [Captain]: SinceRashid Khan has been ruled out of the first two matches of this series, young Noor will play an important role for Afghanistan with the ball. He was in terrific form in the Indian T20 League and would be eager to make a mark in this series as well. He will be our captain pick for this match.
• Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan): Ibrahim Zadran will be an excellent differential pick for this game. He will bat in the top 3 for Afghanistan and is one of the best batters for his team. He is a good player of spin bowling and can score big in this game. Zadran averages 61.85 in 8 ODIs and has 3 centuries to his name as well.
• Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka): Kusal Mendis will either open the innings or he’ll bat at 3 for Sri Lanka. He will be a key batter for his team and can score big on his day. He was in exceptional form in the Test series against Ireland, where he scored a double-century as well.

Differential Picks

• Pathum Nissanka
• Angelo Mathews
• Rahmat Shah
• Lahiru Kumara
• Fazalhaq Farooqi
• Dhanajaya de Silva

Alternative Combinations

Combination 1

Mohammad Nabi

Wanindu Hasaranga [Captain]

Angelo Mathews

Combination 2

Fazalhaq Farooqi [Captain]

Lahiru Kumara

Rahmat Shah

Probable Playing XIs

• Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Angelo Mathews, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhanajaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka ©, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha
• Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi ©, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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