Toss Afghanistan chose to bat vs Sri Lanka
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat in the third and final T20I in Dambulla on Wednesday. Sri Lanka have sewn up the series already after winning the first two games, and will be looking to secure a clean sweep of the whole multi-format series, having also won each of the preceding ODIs and the one-off Test.
As for the pitch and conditions, there’s a breeze blowing across the stadium with no rain expected. It’s the same track as the one used in the previous two games. “The pitch is a little patchy,” Tino Mawoyo said while doing the pitch report. “The one thing that’s there for sure is the dryness under the surface. Other than that there is still a little bit of hardness. I expect in these patchy areas where it’s a bit drier and there’s a bit of grass, we might get a bit of turn, which we haven’t seen a lot of.
“The batting conditions have been pretty good, so the seamers have taken the pace off the ball to counteract it. But what’s key is the length that you bowl when you take that pace off. If they drop it short they’ve been dispatched. So something for the bowlers to think about. But it’s still a bat first surface.”
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga (capt), Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Mohammad Ishaq, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Wafadar Momand