Form guide
(completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan LLLLW
Sri Lanka LLWWW
Not to be too blunt, but Sri Lanka’s fielding has been awful this tournament. Which is something of a turnaround from the outstanding performances that helped win them an Asia Cup in September. They didn’t love the cold in Geelong and Hobart (Sri Lanka bowlers going back generations know they must take 14 or 15 wickets in an innings, because their chilly team-mates insist on dropping several in cold weather). But they had no such excuse on a sunny day in Sydney, where Nissanka’s drop of Glenn Phillips may have cost them the match. All up, they have dropped eight catches, and have shown sloppy ground-fielding technique to boot, right through the tournament. They can’t afford any mistakes with the path to a semi-final already treacherous for them.
The Gabba’s customary bounce and swing will likely be on show in the afternoon, but that’s if the rain stops for long enough to allow a game. There’s a 90% chance of rain according to some forecasts.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka/Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Lahiru Kumara
Afghanistan have not played for a while, but may keep the same XI that lost to England.
Afghanistan (possible): 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Karim Janat, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
“We know we’re the Asian champions. We are using that for confidence. Our mentality is very good. We are trying to bounce back from the match against New Zealand.”
Sri Lanka fast bowler Kasun Rajitha.
“I think we’ll be fresh. We will have a lot of energy going into the game, so it’s exciting times. We’ve played here in a pre-tournament game, and had that experience. And we had over two weeks preparing here in Brisbane. It’s a little bit warmer now than it was when we were here preparing for the tournament.”
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott.
