Afghanistan bat first in must-win game; Sri Lanka bring in Wellalage

Toss Afghanistan chose to bat vs Sri Lanka

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first in a must-win game against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. Rashid Khan said he was keen to get runs on the board in what looked to be a good batting track. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said he would have batted first as well, and emphasised the need to improve their middle-order batting.

Afghanistan made two changes with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Darwish Rasooli coming in for AM Ghazanfar and Gulbadin Naib. Sri Lanka brought in Dunith Wellalage for Maheesh Theekshana, presumably influenced by Afghanistan's struggles with left-arm spin in their previous game against Bangladesh.

The pitch might have something for the seamers early on, but it also might be a little two-paced. "Make sure you're busy against spin," advised Ravi Shastri during the pitch report.

Afghanistan: 1 Sediqullah Atal, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Darwish Rasooli, 5 Karim Janat, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Azmatullah Omarzai, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kamil Mishara, 4 Kusal Perera, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dunith Wellalage, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Thushara