Mendis, Karunaratne fifties take Sri Lanka to 323

Cricket

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat vs Afghanistan

Sri Lanka made four changes as they won the toss and elected to bat first in a must-win second ODI against Afghanistan.

Trailing 1-0 in the three-match series, the hosts brought in Sadeera Samarawickrama, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera. Making way were Angelo Mathews, Dushan Hemantha, Lahiru Kumara and Matheesha Pathirana.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, went with an unchanged line-up after a convincing six-wicket win in the opening game.

Farveez Maharoof, in his pitch report, noted that the Hambantota surface was much drier this time around with less grass, and would be good for the batters.

Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka was in agreement, saying he was happy to make first use of the surface, which was the same as in game one, and presumably one that would be even more suitable for run scoring. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi for his part said he would have bowled first had he won the toss.

It was Ibrahim Zadran who led the way in the first ODI that Afghanistan won with 19 balls to spare.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Malik

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha

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