T20 World Cup 2022: 3 player battles to watch out for from Tuesday's match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
In what could be an exciting affair, Sri Lanka are set to take on Afghanistan in Match 32 of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 on Tuesday, November 1. The encounter is scheduled to be played at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Sri Lanka, who earned their way from the preliminary round to Super 12, have played six matches at the T20 World Cup this year. Afghanistan, on the other hand, have largely been unlucky in their campaign, having contested only once in the competition while two of their games against New Zealand and Ireland were washed out due to rain.
On Tuesday, however, both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will hope that the rain gods stay away as both teams will be vying for those two crucial points in order to strengthen their prospects for the semi-finals.
Afghanistan will take on Sri Lanka in the 32nd match of the Men’s 20-20 World Cup 2022.
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Both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have some quality names on their roster. However, the skippers of both the nation - Mohammad Nabi and Dasun Shanaka - have been mediocre with their returns of late and will want to lead from the front
On that note, let's take a look at the top three player battles to watch out for from what could be a nail-biting contest between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
#3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa (SL) vs Rashid Khan (AFG)
Sri Lankan hard-hitter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has been far from his best in the T20 World Cup so far, amassing just 85 runs in five innings. However, the southpaw did connect some mighty strokes during his 22-ball 34 in the previous game against New Zealand.
Rajapaksa has enjoyed his last two outings against Afghanistan as well, scoring 70 from just 43 runs in total. While the left-hander will view Tuesday's meeting against the Afghans as a chance to revive his underwhelming campaign, Rajapaksa will have his task cut out against Rashid Khan.
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Leaking runs at a rate of just 75 (12 runs from 16 balls), Rashid has managed to keep Rajapaksa quiet in T20s so far. It remains to be seen who will come out on top when the two meet in the T20 World Cup fixture.
It will be a game of power hitting against foxy spin and fans will be entertained by the watch at the Gabba.
#2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG) vs Maheesh Theekshana (SL)
One of several attacking batters that Afghanistan have is wicketkeeper-opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who boasts a fantastic record against Sri Lanka. The right-hander faced the Lankans twice in the Asia Cup earlier this year, scoring 40 off 18 balls and 84 off 45 balls.
With his ability to accumulate runs quickly and attack any bowler on his day, Gurbaz will want to continue his merry run against Shanka and Co. and gain his side their elusive two points.
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Excited to see how much Gurbaz has progressed this season.
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However, one bowler who will try to put a lid on Gurbaz's free-flowing strokes will be Lanka's mystery tweaker Maheesh Theekshana. The right-armer, who has picked up nine scalps in the tournament so far, is currently the joint-second-highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Four of Theekshana's nine wickets in the competition have come inside the powerplay, where Sri Lanka have used the off-spinner as their prime wicket-taking option. He got rid of dangerous Finn Allen last time around and will try to repeat the feat against Gurbaz as well.
#1 Kusal Mendis (SL) vs Mujeeb Ur Rahman (AFG)
While it will be Gurbaz versus Theekshana in one innings, it will be Kusal Mendis versus Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the other.
Similar to Theekshana, Mujeeb is well accustomed to bowling in the first six overs and is likely to attack with the new ball for Afghanistan once more.
Sri Lankan opener Kusal Mendis, who is the second-highest leading run-getter in the tournament so far with 180 runs in six games, will be wary of the threat Mujeeb poses.
While Mendis has been in terrific form with the bat, Mujeeb is a powerplay specialist and has picked up 41 percent of his T20I scalps inside the first six overs. The battle between the two could well and truly set the tone of the game from the word go.