ICC World Twenty20 2016 title reigning champions Sri Lanka are set to start title defending campaign against Afghanistan on March 17 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This is the 16th match in wt20 championship. Afghanistan is a confident side and hopeful to do better in the super-10 round after spoiling Zimbabwean dreams in the first round. On the other hand Sri-Lanka will definitely to get a good combination to play ahead big games.
Preview
The toughest time for Sri Lankan team is not seemed to be getting resolved in short span as they have been struggling a lot since Sangakkara and Jayawardene’s exit. They had one of the worst Asia Cups this year but will surely be looking to perform well in World T20. Lasith Malinga still not fully fit to play match and Angelo Mathews is already appointed captain of the side for full event.
Lahiru Thirimanne, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chandimal, Jayasuriya, Kapugedara need to score runs and get into the form before heading towards big matches against South Africa, England and West Indies. Mathews is hopeful of doing well in the world t20.
Sri-Lankan skipper said, “From the outside no one is really giving us a chance and that’s a good thing. We can play with a lot of freedom and that’s what I expect from the team. I’m sure if we do play with a lot of freedom then we’ll beat most teams.”
On the other hand Afghani team has already created history and are hungry and excited to compete against top teams in the group like Sri Lanka. They have got nothing to loss but to gain they have got a lot.
Afghanistan cricket team hero Mohammad Shahzad is happy with the way side has performed and he is confident for the upcoming big matches in the competition. Shahzad said that team arrived India to do something good and were eager for super-10. He said, “The troubles back home are not really on our minds when we take the field. We are not here just to participate in the tournament, we have come here to do something.”
Squads
Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews (C), Lasith Malinga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shehan Jayasuriya, Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal.
Afghanistan
Asghar Stanikzai (C), Noor Ali Zadran, Shahzad Mohammadi, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Rashid Arman, Hamza Hotak, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Mirwais Ashraf, Rokhan Barakzai, Najib Taraki, and Yamin Ahmadzai.
Predictions
Sri Lanka will be favorite to win and they have got 60 percent winning chances over Afghanistan.
