SL vs AFG 3rd ODI Match Prediction

SL vs AFG Team Previews

Sri Lanka

After suffering a shock loss at the hands of the visitors in the opening match, Sri Lanka came back strongly to level the series and will be looking to once again emerge as the winners here. A win here will also give them plenty of confidence ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers scheduled to begin later this month.

The top-order batsmen put up a solid performance in the last match and will once again hold the key here. The likes of Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, and Dimuth Karunaratne have been striking the ball well and their performance will help put the hosts a solid base here.

Mendis and Karunaratne scored individual half-centuries in the last match. Sri Lanka has a good depth in its batting thanks to all-rounders like Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, and Wanindu Hasaranga.

Talking about the bowling, Dushamantha Chameera, and Kasun Rajitha will lead the pace attack for the hosts in this match. Sri Lanka has plenty of options in the spin department too. Maheesh Theekshana is the full-time spinner on the squad and will be helped by Hasaranga and De Silva in the middle overs. 

The return of Sri Lanka's first-choice bowling attack makes it the deserving favorite to win this series decider.

Afghanistan

Over the years, Afghanistan has emerged to be a solid opponent and the teams can no longer take them for granted. Sri Lanka learned it the hard way in the opening match of the series as they struggled against a brilliant all-round effort by the visitors. Afghanistan has already booked a spot in the upcoming ODI World Cup and will be looking to gain some confidence by winning here.

Ibrahim Zadran is in excellent form for the visitors as he has scored half-centuries in both matches so far. He, along with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, will be looking to give the team a good start. The middle order appears quite strong too as Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah have both scored half-centuries in this series and can play another good innings here.

The tail is quite long for Afghanistan and they are always vulnerable to a slow down after losing their first couple of wickets.

The all-rounders Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, and Azmatullah Omarzai add depth to the batting. With Rashid Khan likely to be unavailable for this match too, Noor Ahmad will be the key spinner for Afghanistan here. He had a good outing in the recently concluded IPL and the will be feeling quite confident going into this game.

He will bowl in tandem with Mujeeb Ur Rahman while Nabi will fill in during the middle overs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi are likely to start with the new ball but they haven’t had much luck in this series. Farooqi in particular has been quite expensive.