Sri Lanka pacer Lahiru Kumara has drawn first blood in his first over itself in the ongoing second ODI against Afghanistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Brought into the attack by captain Dasun Shanaka as a first-change bowler in just the sixth over, Kumara sent first ODI’s centurion in Ibrahim Zadran (10) back to the pavilion.
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It was on only the second delivery that Kumara bowled that he induced Zadran into playing on a delivery to his stumps. Having driven Kumara for a boundary on the first ball of the over, Zadran’s attempt to dab a delivery towards the third man region costed him his wicket.
With Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi winning the toss and opting to bat for the second time in a row on this tour, the visitors would have hoped for a better start than losing Zadran cheaply. Currently battling it out in the middle, wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz and batter Rahman Shah would be looking to build a solid partnership from hereon.
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium weather today
Sun has made its presence felt clearly and evidently in the first 30 minutes or so of play today. Notwithstanding clouds attempting to take over briefly, there are no major signs of a rain interruption for now.
That being said, the same might change anytime primarily due to the tropical weather in an island nation like Sri Lanka. It is noteworthy that there’s a considerable rain forecast in Pallekele for the remainder of the day. If weather portal BBC Weather is to be believed, rain probability will remain around 50% for the next four hours before increasing to 64% for the next couple of hours.
With inclement weather conditions already converting second New Zealand-India ODI in Hamilton into a rain abandoned match, cricket fans would want the weather to be supportive in a completely different part of the world on Sunday.
However, don’t be surprised if this match experiences a few rain delays leading to loss of overs towards the evening. Furthermore, it will require a significant change in weather forecast for this match to be an uninterrupted contest.
Hourly weather at Pallekele Cricket Ground
03:30 PM – 27 degree (Rain Probability – 52%).
04:30 PM – 26 degree (Rain Probability – 51%).
05:30 PM – 25 degree (Rain Probability – 52%).
06:30 PM – 24 degree (Rain Probability – 57%).
07:30 PM – 23 degree (Rain Probability – 64%).
08:30 PM – 23 degree (Rain Probability – 64%).
09:30 PM – 23 degree (Rain Probability – 51%).
10:30 PM – 22 degree (Rain Probability – 31%).
11:30 PM – 22 degree (Rain Probability – 20%).
00:30 AM – 22 degree (Rain Probability – 26%).
