Afghanistan and Sri Lanka meet in a Group 1, Super 12 T20 World Cup Match in Brisbane on Tuesday and both teams will be desperate for a win to keep themselves in semi-final contention.
These sides currently sit at the foot of the table on 2 points from 3 matches, but Group 1 is very congested due to a number of matches been rained out. A victory here for either side will still keep them in the hunt for a semi-final place.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan’s last two matches have been abandoned without a ball been bowled. Their only game to date was a 5 wicket defeat to England in their opening game. England sent them into bat and they could only get to 112 all out in the 20th overs with Zadran and Ghani scoring 30’s at a run a ball. The bowlers performed well to put England under some pressure, but in the end England won with just under 2 overs to spare and Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 17 off his 4 overs.
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka haven’t had rain interfere with any of their games. They opened their campaign with a 9 wicket win over Ireland. They were then competitive for long periods against Australia before going down by 7 wickets and in their last game against New Zealand they had the Black Caps in all sorts of trouble early on before allowing them out of jail to reach 167 for 7 in 20 overs. Kasun Rajitha was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 23 in his 4 overs, but the batsmen failed to deliver yet again and they were bowled out for 102 losing by 65 runs. Shanaka made 35 off 32 and Rajapacksa installed some urgency to the innings with 34 off 22 balls.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
These sides have met three times in T20 cricket with Sri Lanka winning twice and Afghanistan once. Interestingly enough all 3 games were played on neutral turf.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Afghanistan 31/20
Sri Lanka 11/20
Suggested Bet: Afghanistan win at 31/20
The convincing opening victory against Ireland aside, Sri Lanka have disappointed me especially their batsmen and the Afghanistan attack showed against England that it is not to be taken lightly. I am backing Afghanistan to pick up the points here and consign Sri Lanka to also rans.
Suggested Bet: Sri Lanka Top Bowler, Lahiru Kumara at 27/10
I have been impressed with this man in the World Cup and I think he is going to be a handful for the Afghanistan batsmen. He has bowled, in my opinion, better than his figures suggest and is due a bit of luck on the wicket taking front.
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Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
