ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 7: Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI

The standards of Sri Lanka cricket have never been as bad as they are at the moment. In their opening game against New Zealand, the side suffered a 10-wicket loss and bagged a huge embarrassment. All they could manage to score in this game was 136 runs which was hugely disappointing. In the second innings, the bowlers put up no fight and ended up conceding a massive win to the opposition.

As a result, the Net Run Rate of Sri Lanka at the moment is -5.754 and there are several corrective steps that are to be taken to make things right again. The team will face Afghanistan in their next game of the World Cup and this is possibly their best chance to get a win under their belt. However, it will be improbable if their players continue to play the way as they did in the earlier game. Changes to the eleven will not make much of a difference to this side as they are collectively failing as a group.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Sri Lanka:

Openers (Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne (c))

While he played well in the practice game, Lahiru Thirimanne didn’t do much in the game against New Zealand. He hit a boundary off the first ball that he faced and got out the very next ball. Matt Henry bowled a sharp inswinger and Thirimanne was in no position for the flick shot. He ended up playing all around it and was dismissed LBW. The left-hander needs to be more careful early in the innings with the new ball doing a lot of talking.

Dimuth Karunaratne, on the other hand, battled hard for his team. He was lucky early in his innings when a ball from Trent Boult hit the stumps but the bails didn’t fall off their place. Karunaratne went on to make a fighting half-century and also carried his bat. However, he hardly found any support from the other batsmen and couldn’t do much in influencing the result of the game.

Middle Order (Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews)

Kusal Perera will continue to keep wickets in the upcoming game as well. It is highly disappointing the way he and Kusal Mendis have been performing of late. Although highly talented, they have been unable to maintain consistency. Both these players have got all the shots in the book and could be the next big thing in Sri Lankan cricket. But it is important for them to apply themselves well and play sensible cricket.

Angelo Mathews in the other player in this middle order. He is the most experienced batsman in this Sri Lankan middle order. The 32-year-old found it tough against Australia. He played eight dot balls on the trot before Colin de Grandhomme trapped him with an absolute peach of a delivery. Mathews is in good form and it can be said that he was slightly unlucky in the last encounter. He will be looking forward to making it big this time around.

All Rounders (Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana)

Dhananjaya de Silva has got a good technique with the bat and can bat for long periods. However, he hasn’t utilised it completely as yet and got beaten for pace and swing in the last game. He’s got to be a little more cautious while dealing with the swing in the next game. The way Thisara Perera got out in the last game was also extremely disappointing.

He couldn’t hold himself back for too long and tried to play the big shot off the bowling of Mitchell Santner. The all-rounder failed to execute and holed out to the fielder at long-on. Irrespective of the talent he possesses, if he can’t work on his temperament, it is of no use. Sri Lanka should take a chance and promote Isuru Udana to bat at five or six. He is more than capable and this move could work wonders. He is good with the ball as well.

Bowlers (Jeffrey Vandersay, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga)

The only change Sri Lanka will look to make in replace Jeevan Mendis with Jeffrey Vandersay for this encounter. He has got good subtle variations and those could come handy against Afghanistan. Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Malinga will be the two pacers in the team. They are the most experienced in this attack and must deliver.

Malinga has a terrible outing against New Zealand. In 5 overs, he conceded 46 runs as the New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro took the attack to him. While he’d look to improve on this show, Suranga Lakmal will want to continue bowling well. He only conceded 28 runs in 4 overs despite the batsmen trying to take the attack to him.