Odds are evenly stacked as Sri Lanka take on Afghanistan in Cardiff on Tuesday in the seventh match in the ongoing cricket World Cup at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. For both the teams, it is their second match, having lost their first match to this year's world cup favourites. While Sri Lanka were walloped by New Zealand by 10 wickets, Afghanistan had put up a gritty show against Australia before losing to them by 7 wickets.
Going into the match on Tuesday, it would come in handy to note that Afghanistan have won more ODIs than Sri Lanka since the last World Cup. This is despite Afghans having played 22 fewer games than the Lankan side.
After winning the World Cup way back in 1996, Sri Lanka finished second-best in 2007 and 2011. The worrying factor for Sri Lanka is that they had only won two of their last 16 ODIs coming into the tournament.
Sri Lanka is extra cautious and is hoping for a quick turnaround as they have never won a cricket match Sophia Gardens, including the last one in which they lost to New Zealand. Sri Lanka had collapsed to 136 within 30 overs against the Black Caps. On Tuesday, more responsible game would be expected of the batsmen against the ever-improving Afghans.
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With the Cardiff pitch appearing to favour seamers, Afghanistan will look to cash in on world-class spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Despite the result against Australia, there were plenty of positives for the Afghanistan who fought back from 77-5 down after losing opening batsmen Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai for ducks.
Najibullah Zadran was particularly impressive with the bat and Afghanistan hopes to post a big total against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga on Monday said their second World Cup match against Afghanistan is a "must-win" game for the islanders. "We need a must-win game in this competition, we need a must-win game tomorrow. We will try our best in accuracy and tactically, everything hopefully will be there tomorrow," Malinga said on the eve of the Afghanistan game. The Lankans hope to script a confidence-booster win against the Afghans.
