Sri Lanka v Afghanistan World Cup Match Prediction & Betting Tips

The smooth looking Sri Lankan squad who is placed on the fourth place in the ICC One Day International ranking, suffered a lot during their recent visit to New Zealand.  They lost the seven match ODI series against the Black Caps at 2-4 followed by another defeat in the opening game from the same opponents by a margin of 98 runs. Afghanistan did not have a good time either and lost their first encounter of the event vs. Bangladesh by a big difference of 105 runs. Both losing teams will be searching for their maiden victory in the ongoing tournament and one of them will be definitely honoured with two points in their next game subject to its completion.

Players to watch

Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews and Kumar Sangakkara were the only batsmen who resisted against the lethal bowling attack of the Kiwi bowlers by scoring 65, 46 and 39 runs. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Dimuth Karunaratne are required to bat sensibly in the coming games. Lasith Malinga was punished badly in the last game but he has the quality to make a comeback. Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal and Jeevan Mendis are capable of bowling according to the plans.

Afghanistan lost their top three wickets for three mere runs, the fifth one was gone at 78 and they could not recover after the initial blow. Samiullah Shinwari and Mohammad Nabi enhanced the score to 136 by contributing 42 and 44 so the first four batsmen must concentrate on their batting. Their bowling revolves around Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zardan, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf and Mohammad Nabi.

Time & Venue

Sunday, February 22, 2015 @ 22:00 GMT (previous day), 11:00 local at University Oval, Dunedin.

Weather

Partly cloudy with the temperatures around 12-19ᵒC.

Toss

The Lankan Lions will opt to chase and the Afghanis will prefer to bat after winning the toss.

The Pitch

The surface proved to be a bowlers paradise in the 6^th match of the tournament between New Zealand and Scotland where 17 wicket fell in a low scoring game which was won by the hosts by three wickets.

Teams

Sri Lanka – Angelo Mathews (C), Lahiru Thirimanne, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dimuth Karunaratne, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal.

Afghanistan – Mohammad Nabi (C), Javed Ahmadi, Afsar Zazai, Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zardan, Mirwais Ashraf, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran.

Prediction

The Islanders will open their account after winning the game.