Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat vs Afghanistan
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat in the second ODI against Afghanistan at Pallekele.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that they too would have batted first, but he was confident of a better showing from his bowlers. Qais Ahmad came in place of Fareed Ahmad, as Afghanistan opted to go in with an extra spinner.
In terms of the conditions, it was another warm and sunny day in Pallekele. The pitch was similar to what was offered up in the first game, with the grass a little greener, if anything. “There are also some cracks, which means the pitch will stay good but maybe not as high scoring [as the first ODI]. Maybe 300-320 is the par score,” Russell Arnold said at the pitch report.
Sri Lanka: 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Janith Liyanage, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Asitha Fernando, 10 Pramod Madushan, 11 Dilshan Madushanka
Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 5 Ikram Alikhil, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Gulbadin Naib, 8 Mohammad Nabi, 9 Qais Ahmad, 10 Fazalhaq Farooqi, 11 Fareed Ahmad
