The last day-night match of the three-match ODI series between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka takes place at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. The first two matches were won by Sri Lanka, by 42 runs on Friday and 155 runs on Sunday. On February 14, the day-night ODI starts in Pallekele at 14:30 local time.
Having won two ODI series this year, Sri Lanka was simply too strong for Afghanistan in the first two games of the series. Sri Lanka would need to see a significant improvement in both teams’ performance to lose this series’ final game.
Afghanistan’s innings lasted less than 34 overs on Sunday, and they were utterly outclassed! Their middle order failed to provide support, unlike in the first game of the series, when it was their top order that faltered. Should Afghanistan manage to win the series in the end, that would be a huge surprise.
SL vs AFG Team Preview & Squads
Sri Lanka
Following the triumph in the first encounter, Sri Lanka made only one alteration, as Asitha Fernando replaced the seasoned Dushmantha Chameera. Fernando looked good with the ball, thus we anticipate Sri Lanka to go with the same lineup in an attempt to win the series 3-0.
The right-hander Pathum Nissanka, who has 32 scores of 50 or more in international cricket, is a fantastic batter even though he was unable to get another double-century on Sunday. The left-handed middle-order batsman Charith Asalanka scored two sixes and nine fours during his performance in the second ODI. In his 48 ODI innings, he has now scored three hundred and eleven half-centuries.
The left-arm pace bowler Dilshan Madushanka, who took the wickets of Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad in consecutive deliveries, was playing at the top of his game in the most recent match. In the previous game, Wanindu Hasaranga, an all-round bowler, ran through the middle order and bowled in less than seven completed overs. He is excited to bowl on this field once more.
Afghanistan were on track and looking good on 128/1, chasing 309 for the win, but a massive collapse saw them removed for 153. We don’t anticipate any adjustments for this game because the majority of Afghanistan’s batters have scored runs in one of the first two games.
Ibrahim Zadran, the opener, will enter this game with an average of 49.81 from 30 games after striking a half-century in the second ODI of the series. The 30-year-old right-hander Rahmat Shah made an impression at the 2023 Cricket World Cup and has already scored three half-centuries in his four innings thus far on this trip.
Azmatullah Omarzai, an all-round player in this series, has already demonstrated his abilities with the bat and the ball after smashing a century in the opening game on Sunday, taking 3/56. The second ODI saw the sole maiden over from Fazalhaq Farooqi’s team, who bowled with great accuracy the entire time.
Afghanistan Squads
Afghanistan Squads
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Rahmat Shah, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Qais Ahmad
Match Details
Match
Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI | Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka 2024
Date
14/02/2024 (Wednesday)
Time
14:00 (GMT+5) / 14:30 (GMT+5.5) / 15:00 (GMT+6)
Format
ODI
Venue
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
In both of their victories, Sri Lanka opted to bat first in the last game. Regardless of who wins the toss, we believe Sri Lanka will bat first since we anticipate that Afghanistan will want to field first.
Again, during this match, the humidity will increase gradually. The entire forecast calls for cloudy conditions with a high temperature in the mid-to upper-20s.
Though the surface does appear to be slowing down a bit, Sri Lanka has demonstrated in both games that there are plenty of runs to be made at this location. To win, a team should need to score more than 300 in the first innings.
SL vs AFG Head-to-Head Stats of Last 5 Matches
In their last five ODI matches, SL won four matches and AFG won just one.
According to cricket analysts, Sri Lanka has a 70.6% chance of winning.
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