Afghanistan bowl against Sri Lanka in World Cup match
By AFP
October 30, 2023 02:23 PM
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bowl against Sri Lanka in a World Cup match at Pune on Monday.
Afghanistan, bidding for their third win this tournament against a World Cup champion, made one change to the side that thrashed Pakistan by eight wickets last time out, with paceman Fazalhaq Farooqi replacing Noor Ahmad, even though the teenage wrist-spinner took 3-49 on what was his World Cup debut.
Sri Lanka, the 1996 World Cup winners, made two changes.
Injury replacement Dushmantha Chameera came straight into the side after fellow paceman Lahiru Kumara was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup by a thigh-muscle injury sustained during training.
Kumara took 3-35 in Sri Lanka's eight-wicket hammering of World Cup holders England -- also beaten by Afghanistan -- in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dimuth Karunaratne replaced Kusal Perera at the top of the order.
As well as their eight-wicket victories last time, both teams have also won two of their opening five group games and still have a chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wkt), Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah, Azmat Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (capt/wkt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Richard Illingworth (ENG)
TV Umpire: Alex Wharf (ENG)
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)