Dimuth, Chameera to play against the Afghans

Sri Lanka will go into their sixth World Cup game without its hero of the previous match after seamer Lahiru Kumara was ruled out with a thigh injury on the eve of their clash against Afghanistan on Monday.

Although Sri Lanka started off the tournament poorly, losing the first three games to South Africa, Pakistan and Australia, they kept their hopes alive with two back-to-back wins against the Netherlands and England.

Kumara made a significant contribution to Sri Lanka’s eight-wicket win over England on Thursday, picking 3-35 as a rejuvenated team restricted the strong English side to a paltry 156 in the 34th over.

He bowled a few overs on Saturday afternoon during Sri Lanka’s only training session ahead of the Afghan clash before retiring to the dressing room with a pain in his left thigh muscle. He was sent for a scan and the report revealed a tear in the quadricep. He was ruled out for two weeks.

Kumara has just played two games in the World Cup. Against Australia in Lucknow, he was subjected to a leather-hunt with Australian batters collecting as many as 47 runs off the four overs he bowled in the match.

But his performance against England earned him accolades as he bowled to a perfect line and length to record impressive figures that earned him the man-of-the-match award.

His exit in a way is a blessing in disguise for the team as it opens the door for experienced Chameera’s entry into the side. Chameera, Sri Lanka’s best white-ball seamer, has been in and out of the national team due to injury and only joined the team a few days ago as a travelling reserve. He last played for Sri Lanka in June against Afghanistan and in the warm-ups of the World Cup qualifier.

He reported pectoral pain after the first match on June 4 in Hambantota against Afghanistan. As its severity was low, he played the third and final game on June 7 with pain. Not only did he bowl exceptionally well but he also completed the full 10 overs.

He was then taken to Zimbabwe for the World Cup qualifier but was ruled out with a torn pectoral muscle. After recovering from it, he injured himself again in the Lanka Premier League in August. There had been some hope that the lanky seamer may be available for at least part of the tournament as he had started bowling but the persistent pain and discomfort ruled him out.

With a number of injuries within the side, the selectors decided to call him in as reinforcement to be used if necessary. Since arriving, he has been bowling at the nets and seemed in good rhythm.

He will walk straight into the playing XI in place of Kumara while selectors have decided to bring in Dimuth Karunaratne in place of misfiring opener Kusal Janith.

Perera made 78 off 83 balls against Australia. It was his best knock so far. But he managed only 16 runs off his other four innings (7, 0, 5 and 4).

Karunaratne was in good form during the World Cup qualifier, scoring 369 off seven innings, but managed just 53 runs off four innings at the Asia Cup. With Perera coming back to the side after recovering from his shoulder injury, the former Sri Lanka ODI skipper lost his place in the playing XI.

Sri Lanka and Afghanistan faced each other in 11 ODIs with Sri Lanka winning seven games while Afghanistan have registered three wins.  However, Sri Lanka remains unbeaten against Afghanistan in World Cups with Sri Lanka winning both matches in 2015 and 2019.

However, with wins against England and Pakistan Hashmatullah Shahidi led Afghans would fancy their chances against Sri Lanka. Their strength has been the bowling unit led by Rashid Khan while batting too has clicked at crucial times to boost their confidence.

Sri Lanka (Probable XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (C, WK), Sadeera Samarawickrema, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka.

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rahman, Najibullah Zadran.

By Champika Fernando in Pune