Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are set to collide in the first match of the highly-anticipated Asia Cup 2022 tournament, on Saturday, August 28. The match would be played at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai and is slated to start at 7:30 pm IST (Indian Standard Time). Both these sides have not had much success in T20Is of late. While Afghanistan lost a closely contested series against Ireland right before the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka last played a T20I against Australia back in June where they had gone down 2-1 in the series. Hence, this match would be a fresh start for both teams, who are looking to address their areas of weakness and begin with a win in Group B.  Mohammad Rizwan Reads Quran As Other Pakistan Players Stay Busy on Phones During Team’s Travel to Dubai, Netizens React (Watch Viral Video)

Both sides have some power-packed players, who can single-handedly win this game for his side. A winning start would give one of these two teams a world of confidence as the competition will only get tougher. This is one of the interesting fixtures in the group, which also has Bangladesh.

SL vs AFG ODIs Head-to-Head

Interestingly, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have faced each other just once in T20Is. That match had happened way back in 2016 when the Lankan Lions had gotten the better of Afghanistan by six wickets in the T20 World Cup.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Key Players

Sri Lanka would bank on skipper Dasun Shanaka and also all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga to deliver, in this game. For Afghanistan, the key players would be Rashid Khan and Najibullah Zadran.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Mini Battles

There's going to be many mini-battles whenever it comes to this game. One of them would be the contest between Wanindu Hasaranga and Najibullah Zadran. Another mini battle to watch out for would be Rashid Khan going up against Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Venue

The Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan Asia Cup 2022 match would be played at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Match Timing

The Asia Cup 2022 opener between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan has a scheduled start time of 07:30 PM IST on August 27, 2022 (Saturday) with the toss taking place at 7:00 PM IST.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Live Telecast and Live Streaming Online

Star Sports holds the TV telecast rights of the Asia Cup 2022 tournament in India. Fans will be able to watch the SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 match on the Star Sports channels on their TV sets. The live online streaming of the Sri Lanka and Afghanistan Asia Cup 2022 match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar website and mobile app. Users will have to pay a nominal fee to subscribe to the services.

SL vs AFG Asia Cup 2022 Likely Playing XIs

Sri Lanka Likely Playing 11: Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajaspaksa (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamika Karunaratne, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay

Afghanistan Likely Playing 11: Najibullah Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Mohammad Nabi (c), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Karim Janat

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2022 01:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).