Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, 12th Match, Pool A - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Venue: University Oval, Dunedin Date & Time: Feb 22, 11:00 AM LOCAL

Mahela Jayawardene crossed 1000-run landmark in World Cups © Cricbuzz

New Zealand overcame Sri Lanka with ease in the opening match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the defeat would have hurt the Angelo Mathews led side, who will be eager to come up with a commanding performance when they take on Afghanistan in the Group A encounter at the University Oval in Dunedin. Sri Lanka will have to win, and convincingly at that, to regain confidence and assert themselves as contenders for the World Cup. The one-week break would have helped the team regain composure but Afghanistan will be no pushovers.

Mohammad Nabi, the captain, and coach Andy Moles have emphasised on various occasions that Afghanistan are not there to just compete but to try and win games. Like their opponents, Afghanistan too come in to this game on the back of a 105-run loss against Bangladesh. The batsmen came a cropper after a decent bowling effort and Afghanistan will be gunning to prove that they are ready to fight against the big teams.

If the previous game at Dunedin is anything to go by, expect some help for the seamers. New Zealand bowled Scotland out for a low total but lost as many as seven wickets in chase of a lowly 142. The short boundaries will also aid the big hitters. It is expected to be a sunny Sunday and neither team will mind that.

Nuwan Kulasekara might be replaced by youngster Dushmantha Chameera for Sri Lanka. Kulasekara went for 78 runs in his eight overs in the game against New Zealand but the rest are likely to retain their place. Afghanistan might look at tinkering their batting order after an abysmal collapse but are likely to go in with the same eleven that played Bangladesh.

Big game coming up

winner! Congrats Jamie Gough!

(via @cfc12 )

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Angelo Mathews: Feeling a bit of relief [at the moment]. Thought we came back well after going down with a lot of pressure. We really need to raise our standards to compete against the top teams. It was a see-saw kind of game. They started off beautifully, and then we pulled back in the end. I was actually struggling to time the ball, but I knew I had to stay out there with Mahela to get some kind of stand going. Those runs from Perera at the end were unbelievable. We try to float him around in the middle if needed, or up the order if we require his sort of experience.

Mohammad Nabi: The first 30 overs after the 15-over power play we didn't play well. I felt we were short by 30-40 runs. We bowled really well in those first 10-15 overs, putting pressure on them in the end. We also missed out on a few run outs, but we definitely kept them to a tight game, so we are pleased. The way Mahela and Mathews played was brilliant, and they didn't seem to have any pressure. I hope we play well in the next game as well. Both Dawlat and Shapoor bowled brilliantly, and hopefully they will be fitter for the next game too.