Afghanistan win toss, elect to bowl first against Sri Lanka

Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bowl in their clash with Sri Lanka in 30th match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in Pune in India.

After winning the toss, Hashmatullah Shahidi elected to bowl first. He believed that dew might be a factor in play in the evening, hence, the best time to bowl was now. His opposite number Kusal Mendis, however, believed that they would've batted irrespective, according a statement published on ICC website.

Fazalhaq Farooqi returned to the setup in the place of young left-arm unorthodox spinner Noor Ahmad. For Sri Lanka, Dusmantha Chameera came in along with Dimuth Karunaratne. The latter came in place of Kusal Perera.

The luckless Sri Lanka have had to replace Lahiru Kumara after the in-form pacer became the latest in their squad to be sidelined through injury. Chameera made it back into the squad as his replacement.

For Afghanistan's Rashid Khan, it will be a special day, for the impactful all-rounder plays his 100th ODI.

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka meet with both teams aiming to stay in touch with the four pacesetters at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

The winner of this crunch clash will move to within one win of the top four spots that will ultimately secure a place in the knockout stage of the tournament, while the loser will be all but out of the race for a semi-final berth.

Playing XIs:

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.