How To Watch Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Asia Cup 2023 ODI Match? Check Details Here

Asia Cup 2023: After the rain-interrupted Group A match which saw India win the game by 10 wickets against a spirited Nepal side, all eyes will now turn to Group B where group leaders Sri Lanka will take on Afghanistan in match 6 of the Asia Cup 2023 tournament.

This group B fixture is also the last of the group-stage games before we head into the Super Fours phase.

From Group A, Pakistan and India have qualified for the Super Fours with Nepal getting eliminated.

The same cannot be said about Group B, where the result of the SL vs AFG match will decide who progresses and who gets eliminated.

By virtue of a superior run rate, Sri Lanka has more or less qualified for the Super Fours and only needs to avoid a huge defeat to ensure their qualification. Afghanistan on the other hand has a herculean task ahead of them, not only do they have to beat Sri Lanka but they also need to do so with a huge margin considering their net run rate which is -1.780. Bangladesh who have played their allocated couple of matches of the group stage are placed second with a net run rate of 0.373. If Afghanistan beats Sri Lanka by a big margin then they can move to 2nd place and qualify for the Super Fours.

Here's how Afghanistan can qualify for the Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours stage.

• If Afghanistan bats first, and scores around 275-300 runs then they need to win the match by 68-70 runs or more.

• If Afghanistan bowls first, then they need to chase down the score with 35-36 overs or less.

Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Preview

Sri Lanka arrive into this game after a comfortable 5-wicket win over Bangladesh in match 2 of the Asia Cup 2023 tournament. Matheesha Pathirana and M Theekshana were the chief tormentors for Sri Lanka who broke the backs of Bangladesh's middle order which saw them crumble to a paltry score of 164 in just 42.4 overs.

In response, Sri Lanka had a nervy start and lost two wickets in the first four overs but half-centuries by Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka put Sri Lanka in a commanding position which saw them chase down the target in just 39 overs.

Afghanistan on the other hand was handed a huge loss by the Bangladesh team when these two sides met on September 3. Bangladesh put aside their shoddy batting performance against SL and registered a match-winning score of 334 runs in their alloted 50 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto both ended by scoring well-deserved centuries.

In response, Afghanistan started off well with Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi scoring the bulk of the runs at the top order. But as soon as thier wickets fell, the Afghanistan middle order could not carry forward the momentum and soon found themselves way behind the required run rate. The team was eventually bundled out for 245 runs with around six overs left. Taskin and Shoriful were the key bowlers for Bangladesh with four and three wickets each.

Now, lets find out more about this key fixture that can decide the course for Group B.

Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Asia Cup 2023 match will be held on Tuesday, September 5 at 3:00 PM IST.

Star Sports Network will telecast the Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Asia Cup 2023 match live in India.

Disney+ Hotstar will livestream the Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Asia Cup 2023 match on its app and website.

The SL vs AFG match will be held in Lahore, Pakistan and the teams will be greeted by warm weather for most of the match day without any rain interruptions.

Matches played: 10

Sri Lanka won: 6

Afghanistan won: 3

No Result: 1

Sri Lanka has a 6-3 lead over Afghanistan in the head-to-head battle in ODIs. The last time these two sides met was on June 7, 2023, during the Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka which saw Sri Lanka win the 3rd ODI by 9 wickets. It was in this series, that Afghanistan had registered their last victory against the Sri Lankan side when they won the 1st ODI by by 6 wickets.

Sri Lanka should continue with the same playing XI which did well against the Bangaldesh side.

Sri Lanka Probable XI: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana

Though Afghanistan lost their first game, they might go in with the same XI and might change look to shuffle the batting order to strenthen the middle order.

Afghanistan Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Sri Lanka Squad: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Kusal Perera, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Dushan Hemantha

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Riaz Hassan, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi