🏏Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #30: AFG vs SL on 30 Oct 🏏 - Page 4

Now for those of you with a short memory, a bit of a refresher. These sides have played against each other a fair bit in recent times, and their last official game was an all-time classic, where Afghanistan came agonisingly close to completing one of the great chases in the history of cricket only to be foiled by maths.

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Sri Lanka, on the other hand, lost their first three games of the tournament. However, back-to-back victories against Netherlands and England respectively has provided them the thrust they needed. They coasted to a fairly comfortable victory against the Dutch but their show against the Englishmen stole the limelight. They knocked over the defending champions for a paltry total and chased the total down in a jiffy. Such a performance lifts the spirit of the entire team and that holds them in good stead.

Keeping the skiddy nature of Pune surface in mind, Fazalhaq Farooqi is likely to return to Afghanistan’s playing XI but who will make way for him? Will it be Mujeeb or will it be Noor Ahmad? Tough call to make for them. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have been been dealt with another injury blow. Lahiru Kumar, the Player of the Match, in their previous game against England has been ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury. He has been replaced by Dushmantha Chameera in the squad and he is probably going to slot straight into the side. Both teams still have a chance to qualify for the semi-finals but a loss today will seriously dent their chances. Expect a cracking contest! Toss and team lineups coming up shortly...

Our correspondent, Gokul Gopal, pings from the venue: Greetings from Pune! Afghanistan captain Shahidi said yesterday he expected the pitch to be skiddy and also pointed that dew could be a factor. Expect Afghanistan to play one spinner less. For Sri Lanka, Dushmantha Chameera is set to feature in the playing XI. He was a travelling reserve with the SL team before being roped into the squad after the injury to Lahiru Kumara

Originally posted by: Spideyweb

That is the root cause of your boredom

The big news coming in yesterday for Sri Lanka was that Lahiru Kumara, the star of that England thrashing, has been ruled out of the tournament and will be replaced by Dushmantha Chameera. Whether Chameera, himself so touch-and-go in terms of fitness, can remain fit for the remainder of the tournament will go a long way towards determining Sri Lanka's chances.

https://twitter.com/mufaddal_vohra/status/1718847135494681080?t=liRvn4Re7QAXOq1-IkvFhw&s=19

https://twitter.com/mufaddal_vohra/status/1718868890334441843?t=v5nC3n5X3oD8MxvgwPMguQ&s=19

Afghanistan though have no such problems - in fact, they've had a 6-day break since their last game, so their well rested and raring to go. Firdose, who's at the ground, says it's a fairly warm day with a bit of breeze and observes that the Afghan side have had "very, very long team huddle," so think it's a pretty clear they are pumped for this game. Which is a neat segue into Firdose's lovely piece on the top order enabler that is Ibrahim Zadran.