Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, World Cup 2023: AFG spinners remain in control

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Wrong’un, blazes through between Dhananjaya’s bat and body and takes the top of off. Top class bowling from Rashid Khan and he gets a wicket at last.

Dhananjaya de Silva b Rashid Khan 14 (26)

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 167/5 in 36 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Streaky but Sri Lanka will take it, they have to, it’s just their fourth four in over 10 overs. Asalanka tries to slog sweep the fourth ball of Rashid’s over, gets only a toe-end on it and it goes between the wicketkeeper and slip fielder to the boundary.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 162/4 in 33.4 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Time for some drinks. Charith Asalanka is on eight off 12, Dhananjaya de Silva on 11 off 15. Rashid Khan returns for the 34th over.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 157/4 in 33 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Samarawickrama is the next man to go and Sri Lanka in dire straits now. Their top order took their own sweet time setting themselves up and just when the time came to accelarate, they are falling. Samarawickrama, to be fair, has been better than the rest. First ball of the 30th from Mujeeb, it drifts in and traps Samarawickrama plumb in front of middle stump. To make things worse, he takes a review, although it looks like he was talked into it by Dhananjaya de Silva. As it was evident in real time, he is gone and so is a review.

Samarawickrama lbw b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 36 (40)

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 139/4 in 29.1 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Mendis falls sweeping once again. The pressure was building and Mendis slog sweeps it straight into the hands of the deep midwicket fielder, who had just been placed there.

Mendis c sub (Najibullah Zadran) b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 39 (50)

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 134/3 in 27.4 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Mendis on 35 off 40, Samarawickrama on 27 off 29. The run rate has touched five now and while there haven’t been too many boundaries, the batters have done well rotating the strike. Mujeeb comes back for the 26th over.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 125/2 in 25 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Mohammad Nabi bowling the 23rd over, Samarawickrama come down the track and hits it just out of reach of the fielder at midwicket. What a different Samarawickrama has made since coming on. A run off the next ball. Samarawickrama is on 20 off 21 and Mendis is on 32 off 36.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 115/2 in 23 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Samarawickrama is the man in form and he is showing it. Length ball outside off, Samarawickrama leans into the drive and sends the ball careening through extra cover.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 98/2 in 21 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Too short from Omarzai fourth ball of the 21st, Samarawickrama pulls it emphatically towards deep midwicket.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Just eight fours thus far, which tells you the pace at which this innings is going. There is dew that is going to set in later in the day so Sri Lanka do need a good score on board here. Wonder if they are planning to have a hot go in the last 15 odd overs.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: The dismissal isn’t strange, Nissanka takes a waft at a truly wonderful delivery from Azmatullah. Back of a length and nipped back in, it goes the keeper and Afghanistan celebrate, umpire raises his finger as well for the caught behind. What is strange is everything that happened after that. Normally batters go up straightaway if they are sure they didn’t nick it, but Nissanka walks up to Mendis and takes all the time in the world to talk. Then it is Mendis who asks for the review and it seems square leg umpire Chris Gaffney even started going up before his colleague Richard Illingworth comes in and says that is not valid. Nissanka gestured for the DRS just after Mendis but by that time, the clock ran out. It had to be the batter taking the review not his partner, even if the latter is the captain. And why in the world was the conversation happening in the first place if Nissanka was sure he didn’t nick it. All too strange but in the end, a good innings comes to an end, Nissanka misses out on a half-century and the partnership ends on 62 off 77.

Nissanka c Gurbaz b Omarzai 46 (60)

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 84/2 in 18.1 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Azmatullah Omarzai bowling the 17th, the third ball is back of a length and too wide, Mendis times it perfectly to the cover boundary.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: It has come in 65 balls. Nissanka is on 43 off 54, Mendis on 13 off 22.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 72/1 in 16 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Sri Lanka still going at about 4.40 but this is a good steady stand that they have going. Naveen has been expensive, conceding 22 runs in three overs. And now at last, Rashid Khan comes in to bowl in his 100th ODI.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 66/1 in 15 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Naveen goes a bit too wide and Mendis cuts it away, it races through the backward point region to the boundary.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 64/1 in 14.3 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Nissanka on 30 off 37, Mendis on four off 14. The run rate has picked up to over 4 but there is still a meditative air around this innings.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 50/1 in 12 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Mujeeb taken off after the 10th over, having bowled five of them while the other five have been bowled by Farooqi. Nissanka on 24 off 29, Mendis on 2 off 10.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 41/1 in 10 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Mendis yet to get off the mark after five balls, Nissanka on 13 off 22. Sri Lanka are going at 3.50 at the moment, taking their own time.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 28/1 in 8 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: The very next ball darts in on Karunaratne and takes his pads. Big appeal for LBW turned down and Shahidi takes the review. No bat involved and ball tracking shows that middle and leg would have been rattled.

Karunaratne lbw b Fazalhaq Farooqi 15 (21)

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 22/1 in 5.2 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Karunaratne has been trying to get that shot away and he gets it first ball of the sixth. First boundary of the day. Full and wide from Farooqi and Karunaratne carves it through extra cover.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 22/0 in 5.1 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Alikhil is sitting out in the end with Rahmanullah Gurbaz taking the gloves. No boundaries in the first three overs, in fact there haven’t really been any real attempt at hitting a boundary yet from the two batters. Playing the waiting game.

AFG vs SL Live Score: Sri Lanka 10/0 in 3 overs

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Ikram Alikhil is walking off here, not looking good at all for Afghanistan. He was trying to get to a throw off the fifth ball of the second over bowled by Farooqi and the ball hits the tip of his right little finger. Slight delay as he goes off and they wait on whether he can come back on.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Two runs each for Karunaratne and Nissanka, no flashy stuff. That is why Karunaratne is there for Sri Lanka, they need some solidity and steadiness at the top of the order.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Right then, Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne open for Sri Lanka. Afghanistan start out with spin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowling the first over.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: First comes Sri Lanka’s national anthem and then Afghanistan’s. Smattering of crowd only in the stands. Might fill up later in the day though, it is a Monday after all.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: He says that Sri Lanka were looking to bat first anyhow, put up a good score on the board and defend. “In the last three matches, we have done well in all three parts, batting, bowling and fielding and we would like to do well again,” he said. He confirms that Chameera is playing and “hopefully, he will do well”. Mendis further says that Perera is not playing and Karunaratne comes in his place. “He played well in the qualifier matches and I have confidence in him,” he said.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Shahidi says that he expects dew to come in later in the day based on the practice sessions they had. “We are feeling comfortable, we are playing good cricket. Right now, we are focusing on how we are going to play good cricket,” he further said.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Fazalhaq Farooqi in place of Noor Ahmad for Afghanistan. Sri Lanka have made two changes. While Dushmantha Chameera was always expected to slot straight into the squad as replacement for the injured Lahiru Kumara, opener Kusal Perera has been dropped and Dimuth Karunaratne has been brought back into the squads.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Hashmatullah Shahidi has won the toss and chosen to bowl first.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: It has been a historic campaign already for Afghanistan and sky is the limit for them really. Hashmatullah Shahidi said that their good performances have their roots in the belief they have kept in this team. “In our good times and in our bad times, we believed in this team. That’s the reason I think we are playing good cricket in the World Cup,” he said.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: This will be Rashid’s 100th ODI appearance for Afghanistan. He will be the fourth player from the country to get to that milestone after Mohammad Nabi (15w), Asghar Afghan (114) and Rahmat Shah (102).

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: have taken 42 wickets in the four games played in Pune since 2021 compared to only 11 for spin. But both pacers and spinners have been expensive at this venue, with economy rates of 6.3 and 6.51 respectively.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: It was just as well that Afghanistan beat Pakistan because they have since had a six-day break. It means the team has been visibly upbeat and have also been practising for a while in Pune as well. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi spoke about the dew factor at the MCA Stadium which means that Afghanistan could consider bringing on an extra pacer. It is tough to see which spinner he could replace though, considering Afghanistan will never consider leaving out Rashid and both Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman and Noor Ahmad were brilliant against Pakistan.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Injury troubles are what forced Mathews to play for Sri Lanka exclusively as a batter for a number of years and the former captain says that it is bound to happen to any all-rounders considering the number of matches they play. “You have to sort of look after yourself, manage your workloads, and then hydration, recovery, everything. Everything comes into play but still, you can get injured you know, so you just have to know your body. Once you get to know your body, you just have to manage yourself,” he said before today’s match

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Angelo Mathews had joined the Sri Lankan squad ahead of their match gainst England as a replacement for Matheesha Pathirana and so he was expected to bowl. What wasn’t expected was him ending up with figures of 2/14 with an economy of 2.80. Mathews ended the decent start that England had got off to by dismissing Dawid Malan with his third ball of the match and then went on to break another dangerous looking partnership by dismissing Moeen Ali. All in what was his first time bowling in an ODI match in over three years.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Sri Lanka started out with a couple of record breaking defeats. South Africa scored 428/5 in their 102-run victory over Sri Lanka in both sides’ opening game after which the latter lost to Pakistan despite setting a target of 345. It was Pakistan’s highest succesfull World Cup run chase of all time. Sri Lanka then lost to Australia despite only having to chase a target of 216. Then they got a five-wicket win over the Netherlands under their belt and then sank England by eight wickets.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Only one game has been played here at this venue and that was between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh had got off to a fairly good start batting first but India, as they have done throughout this tournament, applied the choke hold in the middle overs. Bangladesh were limited to 256 and India chased it down in 41.3 overs.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Sri Lanka’s batting generally has been quite impressive in this tournament and Sadeera Samarawickrama has pretty much been its engine room. Samariwickrama has scored 295 runs thus far in five innings at an average of 98.33 with two half-centuries and a century.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Afghanistan started this tournament off with a six-wicket loss to Bangladesh after which they lost by eight wickets to the seemingly indomitable hosts India. But then came the sucker punch that they gave England, beating the defending champions by 69 runs. That was followed by another big defeat, this time New Zealand beating them by 149 runs. Then they beat Pakistan for the first time in their ODI history, winning that game by eight wickets.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Rashid Khan has taken six wickets in five games in this World Cup. That is certainly lesser than what one would expect of a player of his stature but Rashid’s effectiveness in ODIs has not been quite at the same level as that in T20s. However, he has taken 11 wickets across six innings at an average of 18.54 against Sri Lanka and so there is reason to expect more of him today.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: The fast bowler was player of the match when Sri Lanka tore England apart in their last match. However, he has now been ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury. He has been replaced by Dushmantha Chameera who is himself returning from an injury.

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rahman, Najibullah Zadran

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live Score, AFG vs SL World Cup 2023: This current format of the World Cup is such that it gives the group stage a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde persona, well depending on how you interpret the two that is. If you say Dr. Jekyll is good news, then that is the group stage becoming a humdinger, the way it did in 2019. If you say Mr. Hyde means horror, horror, horror, then that is the group stage becoming a series of dead rubbers with 16 matches to go still, which is where it seems to be heading this year. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are placed fifth and seventh and both teams are level on points and yet, their chances of making it to the top four can be seen as faint at best. Basically, all teams below the top four have to hope for any one of the latter to slip up to jump into contention and this is despite there still being two weeks of group stages matches left to play.