World Cup 2015: Sri Lanka Eye Big Win, Afghanistan Aim for Improvement

Sri Lanka eyeing big win against Afghanistan

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Dunedin: Outplayed in their opening match, former champions Sri Lanka would look to put their campaign back on track but debutantes Afghanistan would

aim to surprise them in their second pool A match of the cricket World Cup here tomorrow.

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Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, lost by 98 runs to co-hosts New Zealand in their opening match, an unexpected result for one of the strong contenders among the Asian nations. Afghanistan were also beaten in their opener, against Bangladesh, which was not much of a surprise for the World Cup greenhorns even though they did show some spirit in at least their bowling.

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A loss tomorrow for either side would severely dent their chances of advancing to the knockout rounds. Perhaps aware of the enormity of the situation, Sri Lanka have decided against resting any big name despite playing a perceived minnow. (Afghanistan Captain Promises World Cup Recovery)

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"We are playing the full team. Every game is important for us, whether you play Afghanistan or Australia, every game is important, so we'll take every single game very seriously,and we'll play the best XI possible on that day," said Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews.

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The islanders' bowling was quite literally hammered all across the park by New Zealand's marauding batsmen but they are expected to put up a stronger performance against the Afghans, who have shown themselves to be quite vulnerable on the batting front. However, Mathews said he is not expecting it to be an easy match. (Sri Lanka Look to Find Form)

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"They're a very dangerous team. You can't take them lightly because they can upset a team, and they've got nothing to lose. We can't just run through them. We've got to fight really hard from ball one to ball 300 probably, and fight it out and just take it as a Test-playing nation," he said.

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Afghanistan, meanwhile, would be eyeing improvement. They were impressive with the ball against Bangladesh but collapsed meekly while batting.

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Shweta Pandey

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