Confident Sri Lanka eye series win

By M. Shamil Amit

Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will play a crucial series deciding match when they clash in the third and final ODI scheduled to be played at the Sooriyawewa Stadium on Wednesday.

The hosts will come into the game with confidence after their convincing win by 132 runs in the second ODI played on Sunday.

Afghanistan however proved their own pedigree in the first game of the series when they recorded a comfortable win and may have the services of ace spinner Rashid Khan if he is passed fit following a back injury.

The batting of the two teams in the second ODI was visibly different than in the first encounter with host Sri Lanka making merry with the top four batsmen Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama among the runs – a contrast to their performance in the first ODI.

Dhananjaya de Silva, skipper Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga applied the finishing touches as Sri Lanka posted 323, and it’s left to be seen whether the Afghanistan bowlers could prevent them from going on the rampage again.

On the other hand, Afghanistan’s batsman, apart from Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Azmanullah Omarzai, failed to make an impression and wobbled after the fall of the third wicket as from a position of 146 for 3 they collapsed to 191 all out and in the process lost eight wickets for just 45 runs.

They would have remedied the shortcoming and will be expected to put in a better approach if they are to fight back and upend the hosts in winning the series.

Team wise Sri Lanka would most probably go with the same match winning combination while there could be changes in the Afghanistan outfit.