Match Preview - Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup 2022, Super 4

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Sri Lanka can breathe easy. Or can they?

Having been blown away by Afghanistan and then having to use every ounce of firepower to get past Bangladesh, they will once again face a trial by spin. Against the Rashids and the Mujeebs. However, the current Afghanistan team is beginning to establish a new bowling order. Their fast bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen ul Haq have been the perfect prelude to the spin superstars. So as a batting unit, there's unlikely to be any respite.

Does the current line-up have the confidence to take on bowling straightaway? In their virtual knockout, Sri Lanka had to go for broke, for a flight was waiting to take them home otherwise. Can they replicate a similar mindset with the stakes significantly higher?

Chris Silverwood's focus is on bringing back Sri Lanka to their refreshing approach to white-ball cricket that revolutionised the ODI game in the 1990s, the kinds that gave opponents nightmares when Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana destroyed attacks with disdain.

However, that is easier said than done. The proof lies in the pudding. Saturday will be another opportunity to test that.

Afghanistan have proved they're giant killers no more. UAE conditions are as good as home conditions. Most players are residents here, and train and play all year round on pitches such as these, and in weather far more oppressive. What they will want to guard against is complacency.

So far, they haven't been tested while batting first. How they approach it - should this scenario play out on Saturday - will be interesting to watch.

Afghanistan have the edge but having just about stopped the door from shutting them out of their own party, they will now want to barge it open.

Form guide

Pakistan: WLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Hong Kong: WWLWW

In the spotlight

On T20I debut, Asitha Fernando won Sri Lanka game that even his teammates thought had slipped away. His 10 out out of three balls helped clinch a thriller to put Sri Lanka in the Super 4s. Against Bangladesh, Asitha seemed a tad nervous and sprayed the ball around even as the Bangladesh top order took him on. He finished with 1 for 51 off his four overs. Now, he'd be looking to impress with the new ball, which is his primary skillset.

Can Fazalhaq Farooqi repeat his Group B performance?•AFP via Getty Images

Afghanistan are slowly beginning to establish an identity beyond their globetrotting T20 superstars. Among those who putting themselves high on the radar of franchises around the T20 circuit is Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The hard-hitting 20-year-old was given out on zero in the Asia Cup opener but overturned the lbw call on review and went on to take Sri Lanka's attack to the cleaners by making an 18-ball 40 in a low-key chase. Can he rise to the occasion? Now the stakes are high, and a Super 4 game win first up could set them on the road to the final.

Pitch and conditions

The surface in Sharjah will be the same as the Pakistan v Hong Kong game. There is likely to be some rough patches and dry spots that could aid the spinners. That said, the ground dimensions are significantly smaller than Dubai, and both sides have batters than can take surfaces out of the equation. So far, there hasn't been any dew across both venues. Toss should not be a deciding factor.

Team news

Both sides have a fully fit squad of players to choose from. They are unlikely to make changes.

Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Dilshan Madushanka.

Afghanistan: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 6 Karim Janat, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Stats and trivia

Hazratullah Zazai and Gurbaz are the second-most prolific pair for Afghanistan in T20Is. They have eight fifty-run stands in just 21 innings together, including a 37-ball 83 against Sri Lanka last week.

In 13 T20Is this year, Sri Lanka have conceded runs at 8.21 during the powerplay at an average of 42.73. While this average is the worst among all Full Members, their economy is third worst, behind England and West Indies.

Mujeeb ur Rahman has a prolific record in Sharjah: 10 wickets in four T20Is.

Quotes

"Chris Silverwood is trying to bring back the positive, aggressive brand of cricket we used to play a couple of decades back. He has given us the freedom to think as adults and not be pampered." - Bhanuka Rajapaksa on Sri Lanka wanting to channel their 1990s brand of cricket

"The way the boys have performed, the way they have adjusted and taken the responsibility upon themselves has been great to see. In the Super 4s too, our focus is on playing the same brand of aggressive cricket, but also learn from the mistakes we made and not repeat it." - Rashid Khan on Afghanistan's simple mantra going forward

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Match Preview - Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2022, Group B

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It's a very 2022 thing to say, but it's possible that Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are pretty evenly matched sides.

Hear me out.

Of the two sides, Afghanistan tend to play weaker teams, of course, but since 2020, they have won a T20I series against Ireland, won two against Zimbabwe, and drawn one against Bangladesh.

By comparison, Sri Lanka have won just one T20I series since 2020. This was against India. That sounds impressive. Until you remember this was the series in which an already depleted India team (their Test side was on tour on some other continent, playing England) trounced Sri Lanka in the first match, before no fewer than seven of their players contracted Covid-19, and they barely managed to put an XI on the field, packing the side out with bowlers, including net bowlers.

Sri Lanka may be a resurgent team on the whole. They have got something cooking on the Test front. Their ODI form hasn't been terrible lately. But in T20Is? There are some stars in the team now, but certainly no consistent results. They have won just two of the last 11 T20Is they have played.

The batting is where Sri Lanka will feel they have more quality than the opposition. Kusal Mendis is in excellent form, across formats. Charith Asalanka was terrific in the UAE during last year's World Cup. Najibullah Zadran and Hazratullah Zazai have been good for Afghanistan this year, but can they do it against high-quality spin?

This is another opportunity for Afghanistan to show they deserve to play tougher opposition more often. And Sri Lanka to show that while they struggle against the top teams, they can still beat the sides they have historically dominated.

Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, still a spin duo to reckon with•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLLLL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Afghanistan LWWLL

In the spotlight

Dasun Shanaka's last T20I innings was essentially a miracle. At one stage in the third T20I against Australia in Pallekele, Sri Lanka needed 59 runs from 18 balls, with only four wickets in hand. Shanaka took the side home in a hail of sixes, making 54 not out off 25 balls. Although his ODI form has been modest, Shanaka's T20I form has been excellent this year - he's hit 302 runs at a strike rate of 145, across 11 innings. Sri Lanka have been found wanting for death-overs fireworks for years now. They need Shanaka to carry his 2022 form through.

Afghanistan's captain, Mohammad Nabi, has not had so much T20I fun with the bat recently. In the recent series against Ireland, he was out five times and made a top score of 9. But then that's just one series (he'd had good batting outings against Zimbabwe earlier in the year). And his bowling continues to be effective, particularly on the kinds of pitches the UAE is likely to throw up, and with which he is familiar.

Pitch and conditions

Conditions have been hot and dry in Dubai, with the playing surface covered for large parts of the day. With training entirely held at the ICC Academy nearby, curators have had enough time to water the surface and ensure moisture content is maintained. On each of the last four evenings, there hasn't been much dew at night. This is something teams will gladly welcome because it will minimise the toss advantage. It will also make for an even contest between bat and ball.

Team news

Shanaka was guarded about the make-up of his XI ahead of the match, but suggested there would be a left-arm seamer in operation, which means Dilshan Madushanka may be in line for a debut. He's likely to have sling-arm seamer Matheesha Pathirana for company. Sri Lanka have decisions to make on the batting front, though. Ashen Bandara has been in good domestic form. But Dhananjaya de Silva has more all-round appeal. And then there's Pathum Nissanka. If they are to accommodate Nissanka in the XI, Mendis may move down the order.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva/Ashen Bandara, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

Dushmantha Chameera will be missed, his presence could have made Sri Lanka the favourites•BCCI

If the pitch is turning, Afghanistan may stack their side with spinners. Between Rashid, Mujeeb, left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad, and Nabi's darts, they could have a lot of slow-bowling options.

Afghanistan (possible): 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 6 Samiullah Shinwari, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Karim Janat, 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Noor Ahmad

Stats and trivia

• Incredibly, these teams have only played one T20I against each other, in the 2016 World Cup. Sri Lanka won that match with seven balls to spare.
• Nabi has played more T20Is in the UAE than anywhere else, with 35 appearances. His stats on both fronts are impressive. He's made 593 runs here, striking at 138. And he's taken 31 wickets, with an economy rate of 7.09.
• Shanaka's 2022 form is a huge improvement on previous years. He's not only never hit more than 224 runs in other years (he has 308 so far this year), he'd also not struck at more than 135 in any year in which he'd hit more than ten runs.

Quotes

"We're hoping to use a familiar combination. We'll have two main fast bowlers, and an allrounder in Chamika Karunaratne. And we might have a left-armer too."
Sri Lanka captain Shanaka on the seam attack's likely make-up.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf

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