Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday (January 23) announced a change of venue for the ODI series against Afghanistan. The two teams will face each other in the three-match ODI series, which will be played from February 9 to 14.
The ODI series between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan was earlier scheduled to take place in Colombo. But now all three matches of the series will be played at the International Cricket Stadium, as confirmed by Sri Lanka Cricket on Tuesday.
Afghanistan will tour Sri Lanka for the all-format tour. The two teams will meet for the first time in the one-off test match from February 2 to 6 at the SSC in Colombo. The ODIs will then be played on February 9, 11 and 14 in Kandy.
Following the conclusion of the ODIs, Sri Lanka will host Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series. The first game will be played on the 17th. February will be followed by the second and third matches, which will be played on February 19 and 21 in Dambulla. The series will also be a preparation for both teams for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The Afghanistan team will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 30, 2024 for the tour in all formats. They would hope to have a great outing on the tour in all three formats. They couldn’t win a single match on their tour of India, but they challenged Men in Blue a lot in all three matches.
The ODI games of Sri Lanka’s Afghanistan tour will be shifted to the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy.
The Afghanistan team will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 30, 2024 for an all-format tour. #SLvAFG #LankanLions pic.twitter.com/OUCrXDcSqi
– Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) January 23, 2024
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would be very confident after a cheerful outing in the ODIs and T20Is against Zimbabwe. It marked a new era in Sri Lankan cricket after a difficult few months, which saw them perform poorly in the World Cup and also have the ICC sack the entire board of directors.
There was a change in the entire board and they also saw new captains taking on roles in different formats. While Kusal Mendis took over in the ODIs, Wanindu Hasaranga was rewarded with leadership in the T20Is. In the Tests, Dhananjaya de Silva took over the captaincy.
Sri Lanka wins T20I series against Zimbabwe 2-1
The Sri Lanka cricket team was recently seen in action in the T20I series against Zimbabwe. The two teams participated in a high-voltage series. But in the end, it was the island nation that secured victory by a 2-1 margin by dominating the third game.
In the first match, Sri Lanka restricted Zimbabwe to a total of 143 runs and chased down the target on the last ball to win the game by 3 wickets. They took an early lead in the series but the visitors made a stunning comeback and took the second match by 4 wickets. They chased 20 runs in the last over.
In the third match, Sir Lanka swept Zimbabwe. They bundled them out for just 82 runs inside 15 overs. With the bat, they wowed as they chased down the target in 11 overs with 9 wickets in hand and won the series 2-1.