🏏ICC Men's T20I WC 2022: Super 12 - Group 1 - SL vs AFG - 01/11/22🏏

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Super 12 - Group 1

Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan on 01/11/2022 at 9:30 AM IST at The Gabba, Brisbane

Weather the big worry as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan scrap for crucial points

The losers will be knocked out of semi-final contention, but a washout won't quite end their campaigns, depending on other results

If their Asia Cup tilts are anything to go by, these are evenly matched teams. A quick recap of what happened roughly two months ago: Afghanistan thumped Sri Lanka in the group stage, their quicks ripping through the Sri Lanka batting order to have them 105 all out, before Afghanistan's top four ran down the target in 67 deliveries; next match, in the Super 4s, Sri Lanka comfortably chased 176 in Sharjah - a ground record.

Both arrive at this match with their campaigns in critical condition. Sri Lanka have just been crushed back-to-back, by Australia, then New Zealand. Afghanistan have had successive matches abandoned because of rain, having earlier been swatted aside by England. The losers here will be knocked out of semi-final contention, though there also seems to be a chance that this match will be another washout, which doesn't quite end both teams' semi-final hopes, but might, depending on other results (an especially cruel fate for Afghanistan, who have only lost one match so far).

If play gets under way, Afghanistan will target what has been a brittle Sri Lanka batting order. Opener Kusal Mendis is the key batter in the top order, with a tournament-high 180 runs from six innings at a strike rate of 157. The others have been underwhelming, even Pathum Nissanka, who has made 137 runs, but at a strike rate of only 97.

Afghanistan's own batting did not quite kick into gear against England, who dismissed them for 112. But as Sri Lanka's pace attack is depleted, and Wanindu Hasaranga not quite at his lethal best over the past couple of games, Afghanistan will hope for a better outing in Brisbane.

Weather Forecast and Pitch Report:

According to weather reports, the temperature of Brisbane city of Australia on November 1 (Tuesday) will be 23° Celcius during the day and fall to 14° Celcius at night. The sky will be cloudy during the day and clear at night.

The Gabba Stadium in Brisbane, Australia is a good-scoring ground in T20Is. The average 1st innings total at the stadium in T20Is is 165 while the average 2nd innings total is 145. The stadium has witnessed 7 T20I games in the past. The highest-ever total registered at the stadium is 209.

The Gabba Stadium in Brisbane is considered a good scoring ground. Due to the availability of good bounce, pacers earn a good advantage. Moreover, hard-hitting batsmen also manage to score runs with the bounce.

Team Watch

Afghanistan

Injured/Unavailable: Opener Hazratullah Zazai has been ruled out of the remainder of Afghanistan's campaign due to abdominal and kidney concern. Gulbadin Naib, who has replaced Zazai in the 15-member squad, is likely to play his first T20I in nearly a year.

Tactics & Match-ups: Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been devastating in his two outings against Sri Lanka - smashing 40 off 18 in one and 84 off 45 in the other.

Probable XI: Gulbadin Naib, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka

Injured/Unavailable: There are no more additions to the piling list of injuries.

Tactics & Match-ups: Bhanuka Rajapaksa enjoyed his last two outings against Afghanistan - hitting 38(29) and 31(14) - and could view Monday's meeting to revive his underwhelming World Cup campaign so far.

Probable XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

T20I head to head: Sri Lanka have won two of the three meetings in this format. In T20 World Cups, they faced each other just once with Sri Lanka coming up trumps. More recently, the two faced each other in this year's Asia Cup, where they won a game each.

Recent Venue Records (The Gabba, Brisbane)

Stats- T20Is

Total matches- 6

Matches won batting first- 4

Matches won bowling first-2

Average 1st Inns scores-168

Average 2nd Inns scores- 145

Highest total recorded- 209/3 (20 Ov) by AUS vs RSA

Lowest total recorded- 114/10 (18.3 Ov) by RSA vs AUS

Did you know:

- Since his T20I debut, Wanindu Hasaranga has picked 81 wickets in 50 matches at an average of 14.94. In this same period, Rashid Khan has 44 wickets in 34 outings at an average of 18.80

- 10 of the 19 T20I wickets that Fazalhaq Farooqi has picked up have come in the PowerPlay

In the Spotlight:

In the two matches against Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was in blistering touch, crashing 40 off 18 in the first match, before plundering 84 off 45 in the next. He has played in the Lanka Premier League, so knows the bowlers a little more than most. He hasn't quite lit up the World Cup yet, making just 10 off 9 against England, after not a lot of impact in the warm-ups. The challenge for him is to be able to adjust to the extra bounce often seen at the Gabba. If there's an opponent he feels confident against right now, though, it's probably Sri Lanka.

Not to be too blunt, but Sri Lanka's fielding has been awful this tournament. Which is something of a turnaround from the outstanding performances that helped win them an Asia Cup in September. They didn't love the cold in Geelong and Hobart (Sri Lanka bowlers going back generations know they must take 14 or 15 wickets in an innings, because their chilly team-mates insist on dropping several in cold weather). But they had no such excuse on a sunny day in Sydney, where Nissanka's drop of Glenn Phillips may have cost them the match. All up, they have dropped eight catches, and have shown sloppy ground-fielding technique to boot, right through the tournament. They can't afford any mistakes with the path to a semi-final already treacherous for them.

Stats and trivia

Out of the three teams he's scored more than 100 T20I runs against, Gurbaz has the highest strike rate against Sri Lanka - 197. In fact, it's his highest against any team.

Sri Lanka have played three T20Is against Afghanistan, losing only the opener of the recent Asia Cup.

Despite having taken only one wicket in the last two games, Hasaranga remains the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, with ten dismissals from six matches. He has an economy rate of 7.08.

Quotes

"We know we're the Asian champions. We are using that for confidence. Our mentality is very good. We are trying to bounce back from the match against New Zealand."

Sri Lanka fast bowler Kasun Rajitha.

"I think we'll be fresh. We will have a lot of energy going into the game, so it's exciting times. We've played here in a pre-tournament game, and had that experience. And we had over two weeks preparing here in Brisbane. It's a little bit warmer now than it was when we were here preparing for the tournament."

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott.

Now we are getting to the business end of the tournament. From now on each match (not only for the teams who are playing but also for the teams who are watching from the side lines) is very important. Not just the result, but also the NRR. Hopefully we will get to see some even contest.

Cheers..

It is the battle of the table laggards. Afghanistan have been plagued by rain as two of their three games have been washed out by rain where as Sri Lanka have been handicapped by injuries and over-powered by stronger teams in the form of Australia and New Zealand. Both the teams in this group of death are still not out of contention but aren't close to the qualification mark either. They need a win to keep them afloat. But again, the friend to some and foe to a few - rain - might interrupt this game as well. There are high chances of rain for the first game of the day!