Afghanistan opt to bat under clear skies at the Gabba

Toss Afghanistan chose to bat vs Sri Lanka

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first at the Gabba – a venue which tends to favour sides setting scores. The match is a must-win affair for both teams, with the losers dropping out of semi-final contention. The surface is expected to be a standard Gabba pitch, with plenty of bounce and carry for the quicks.

With Hazratullah Zazai out of the tournament with an abdominal injury, Afghanistan have been forced to make one change – Gulbadin Naib comes straight into the XI after having replaced Zazai in the squad. Naib will likely bat in the middle order, which means Usman Ghani may go up to the top to open the batting alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Sri Lanka have also made one change, beefing up their seam attack by bringing in specialist Pramod Madushan, while leaving out seam-bowling allrounder Chamika Karunaratne. This leaves the XI a little short of batting, however, with Wanindu Hasaranga at No. 7 the last man with history of scoring important runs, even if sporadically.

The rains earlier in the day may have left the outfield moist, meaning bowlers may not find it particularly easy to grip the ball, especially in the first innings. There is a small chance of the weather interrupting play again, but skies appeared clear at the toss.

Afghanistan: 1 Usman Ghani, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Gulbadin Naib, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Fareed Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Pramod Madushan, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Lahiru Kumara

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

Afghanistan opt to bat under clear skies at the Gabba

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