Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lanka side will bat first against UAE in their first match of the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier tournament today after the UAE captain won the toss and opted to bowl first against the Lankans.

The 1996 World Cup champions Sri Lanka will need to qualify for the ICC men’s ODI World Cup 2023 through the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers tournament currently taking place in Zimbabwe. 

The Lankans have been placed in Group B and will take on fellow Asian side United Arab Emirates in their first match of the ICC men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier at the Queens Sport Club in Bulawayo on Monday.

All-rounder Dasun Shanaka is the captain this time around after replacing previous 2019 World Cup captain Dimuth Karunaratne. 

Sri Lanka will be banking their hopes on the form of former captain Karunaratne and batter Kusal Mendis - both of whom scored impressive hundreds in the warm-up games before the Qualifiers tournament.

The Lankans will be boosted by the addition of Matheesha Pathirana, who is coming into this tournament of the back of IPL 2023 win with MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.

United Arab Emirates (Playing XI): Muhammad Waseem(c), Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind(w), Rohan Mustafa, Basil Hameed, Asif Khan, Rameez Shahzad, Aayan Afzal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara