ICC CWC 2019 AFG vs SL Preview: Face saver for Sri Lanka after dismal start

A confident Afghanistan will face woe-stricken Sri Lanka as the two will go head to head in match 7 of the ICC World Cup 2019 at the Cardiff Wales Stadium on Tuesday. Both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka lost their opening World Cup match against Australia and New Zealand respectively and they would be eager to open their first match of the tournament. Although Gulbadin Naib-led Afghanistan lost their opening match against Australia, they were still able to put up some fight against the defending champions with the bat as Rahmat Shah (43) and Najibullah Zadran (51) played a crucial role and Rashid Khan topped it up with 27-run cameo.

CHECK MATCH 7 (AFG vs SL) LIVE score, TOSS updates and match commentary here

Check ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table here

Hamid Hassan was exceptional with the ball as he troubled Aussie batsmen and may continue the same show against Lanka batsmen.

Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka had the worst possible start in the 2019 World Cup as the batting order completely collapsed against New Zealand. Only skipper Karunaratne put up some fight with unbeaten 52 and Kusal Perera (29) stayed at the crease for some time. Rest, other batsmen failed to put double digit score save Thisara Perera who added 27 runs.

Afghanistan Team News: Mohammad Shahzad will have to help the team in their second match as he was dismissed against Australia due to sloppy foot work. Hazrat Zazai too failed in the first match but the team would expect him to contribute against Sri Lanka. Rahmat Shah would be a key player at number three while Shahidi, Najibullah and skipper Gulbadin would be essential for middle overs.

Sri Lanka Team News: Sri Lanka may make some changes is the playing 11 after the team's dismal show against New Zealand. Karunaratne would expect more from batsmen as the team will be under immense pressure. The bowling unit, led my veteran pacer Lasith Malinga, would have to take early wickets to put pressure on opposition's strong middle order. Suranga Lakmala and Jeewan Mendis may prove handy for the skipper.

Afghanistan Key Players: Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Shahzad
 

Sri Lanka Key Players: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera

AFG VS SL Playing 11 Prediction

Afghanistan Playing 11: Zazai, Shahzad (WK), Rahmat, Hashmatullah, Naib, Najibullah, Nabi, Rashid, Mujeeb, Dawlat and Hamid.

Sri Lanka Playing 11: Karunaratne (C), Thirimanne, Kusal Perera(WK), Kusal Mendis, Mathews, Dhananjaya, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara, Udana, Malinga and Lakmal.

ICC World Cup 2019, Macth 7: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Live streaming details

Date and Day: June 4, 2019, Tuesday.

Place: Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff 

Time: 3:00 pm IST, 10:30 am local time

The World Cup 2019 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka match live streaming will be available live on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 in English Commentary and Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD in Hindi Commentary. The live streaming of the World Cup 2019 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka match will be available on Hotstar.

AFG vs SL Squads 

Afghanistan

Gulbadin Naib (C), Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Dhananjaya de Silva, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana and Jeffrey Vandersay