Before coming to Tuesday’s match, both of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka lost their first matches respectively against Australia and New Zealand.
Afghanistan lost to defending champions Australia by seven wickets, while Sri Lanka were outplayed by current runners-up by 10 wickets.
So, the current match came as a chance for the teams to return to winning streak.
Before the latest encounter, the teams faced each other in the World Cup once previously. Sri Lanka won that game. Overall, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan played four ODIs in which the island nation won two and Afghanistan registered a victory.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Shahzad(w), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib(c), Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan