Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup PROGRESS in the balance as Afghanistan take on Bangladesh

Afghanistan gained a significant Nett Run Rate after their comprehensive win over Sri Lanka on Saturday

By Shanuka Aravinda reporting from  Dubai

Another decisive match of the Asia Cup 2022 is set to begin today (30) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. 

If Afghanistan wins, the team will qualify for the Super Four round as winners of the Group ‘B’, raising Sri Lanka’s hopes to qualify for the next round. 
If Afghanistan loses, Sri Lanka’s chances will become much slimmer, with Sri Lanka’s negative Nett Run Rate almost impossible to overturn. 

Sri Lanka are currently last in Group ‘B’ with a NRR of -5.176 after Afghanistan won by eight wickets in the tournament opener. 
Incidentally, Sri Lanka lost to the same two oppositions in the 2018 Asia Cup, an ignominy that led to Angelo Mathews being axed as captain. 

It would bring some optimism for Sri Lanka knowing that Afghanistan hold the historical edge over their opponents for today, winning five of the eight matches played between them, with Bangladesh winning the other three. 
The last four matches have been evenly split between the two teams. 

In the 2018 Asia Cup, Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh in the first round but Bangladesh crushed Afghanistan in the Super Four round – though those results are not comparable to this tournament, as those matches were ODIs. 

Bangladesh Captain Shakib-Al-Hasan is set to play his 100th T20 International and the return of Mustafizur Rahman, who was suffering from a minor injury, will strengthen the Bangladesh team. 

However the absence of highly experienced openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das will be a huge concern to the team.
Afghanistan’s team which played against Sri Lanka will likely remain unchanged for today’s match. 

The match will begin at 7.30 pm in Sri Lankan time.