Toss Afghanistan chose to bowl vs Sri Lanka
Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said he wanted his team to take advantage of a fresh pitch. (Seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq would do just that, taking three wickets in the first two overs.)
In general, Afghanistan went with an XI with plenty of bowling options. In addition to Naveen and Farooqi, who shared the new ball, they have Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, captain Nabi, and the seam-bowling allrounders Karim Janat, and Azmatullah Omarzai to call on.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have left out Dhananjaya de Silva to keep Pathum Nissanka in the side, essentially. They opened with Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, with Danushka Gunathilaka batting in an unfamiliar No. 4 position.
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Dilshan Madushanka
Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt.), 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Karim Janat, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
Source: ESPN Crickinfo