Big picture: A fresh chapter for Sri Lanka
The Afghanistan men’s team has played seven Tests in their history; for Sri Lanka, this is the first of eight (perhaps nine) scheduled for 2024. This is, on the surface, a mismatch.
Sri Lanka LLWWL (last five Tests, most recent first)
Afghanistan LWLLW
In the spotlight: Dimuth Karunaratne and Ibrahim Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran‘s ODI scores against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka are: 22, 54, 98, 162, 10, 106. It is around him that the top order has tended to rally on the island, and from him they have taken cues on how to play spin. He has not been quite so consistent in Tests, with three fifties in the ten innings he has played so far. But with the SSC surface expected to be decent for batting over the first three days (and particularly after the first morning), Ibrahim is best placed from his side to make a substantial score.
Sri Lanka have a settled batting order but may toy with the idea of playing a third seamer if they feel Afghanistan are susceptible to good seam bowling.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis/Kasun Rajitha, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Vishwa Fernando
Afghanistan (probable): 1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Abdul Malik, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Nasir Jamal, 6 Bahir Shah, 7 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 8 Zia-ur-Rehman, 9 Yamin Ahmadzai, 10 Mohammad Saleem, 11 Zahir Khan
There was a tinge of green at the SSC on the eve of the game, which suggests there will be some seam movement on the first morning. Expect it to flatten out and get better for spin later, however. At first glance, this did not seem the spinner’s paradise the SSC has often been for Tests over the past six years. The weather has been relatively dry in Colombo over February. Only brief showers are forecast.
