Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, 1st ODI Stats Preview: Players records and approaching milestones

Sri Lanka will host Afghanistan for a three-match ODI series starting from 2^nd June 2023 at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota and the second and third match will also be played at the same venue on 4^th and 7^th of June, respectively.

The series will be a practice game before the World Cup for Afghanistan, while Sri Lanka will be warming up before playing qualifiers for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Sri Lanka last played an ODI series against NZ in March where they lost the series 0-2 due to poor performance, eventually losing a spot on direct qualification.

They have included their Test skipper Dimuth Karunaratne for the ODI series in order to strengthen their batting department. Karunaratne last played in colored clothing way back in March 2021. Young pace bowling sensation,  Matheesha Pathirana has been added to the squad as well, due to a good IPL campaign he had and is expected to make his ODI debut

Afghanistan, on the other hand, will start fresh in 2023. They last played ODI in November 2022 against the same opponent and drew the series. Their experienced campaigner will be coming after a tiring IPL season. Afghanistan will be missing the services of Rashid Khan in the first two games due to a back injury. Since they have earned direct qualification to the World Cup, Afghanistan will look to try different combinations before the mega event.

For Lanka, Pathum Nissanka has aggregated 629 runs in 15 games at an average of 48.38 since 2022, while Charith Asalanka and Kusal Mendis have managed to score 489 and 426 runs, respectively.

In the bowling department, Chamika Karunaratne holds the key with 18 wickets in 13 matches while Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara have managed to take 14 and 11 wickets, respectively.

For Afghanistan, Rahmat Shah tops the batting with 616 runs at an average of 51.33 in 12 games, while Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have managed to score 431 and 402 runs, respectively.

In the bowling department, Fazalhaq Farooqi has taken the most wickets from the squad since 2022 with 17 wickets, while Mohammad Nabi and Fareed Ahmad have managed to pick 12 and 10 wickets.

Meanwhile, let us look at the stats and approaching milestones ahead of the first ODI between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan:

Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Head-to-Head: Both the teams have met in seven games, with Sri Lanka dominating the contest with four wins to Afghanistan’s two wins and one game ending in no-result. In Sri Lanka, both have met thrice, with each team winning the contest once and one game ending in no-result.

26-Najibullah Zadran (1974) needs 26 runs to reach 2000 runs in ODIss

44-Mohammad Nabi (2956) needs 44 runs to complete 3000 runs in ODIs.

8-Mohammad Nabi (92) requires eight sixes to complete 100 maximums in ODIS.

6-Dushmantha Chameera (44) requires six wickets to complete 50 wickets in ODIs.

10-Kusal Mendis (40) needs 10 sixes to complete 50 sixes in ODIs.

10-Dasun Shanaka (90) needs 10 fours to reach 100 fours in ODIs.

94-Dhananjaya de Silva(1406) needs 94 runs to complete 1500 runs in ODIs.

147 - Angelo Mathews (5853) needs 147 runs to complete 6000 runs in ODIs.

57 - Chamika Karunaratne (443) needs 57 runs to reach 500 runs in ODIs.  

1 -Chamika Karunaratne (49) needs 1 wicket to complete 50 international wickets.