Sri Lanka takes on Zimbabwe at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy in the 1st One Day International this afternoon.
This is the first limited-overs assignment for the Dasun Shanaka led side in 2022.
Sri Lanka comes in from a 2-0 victory over the West Indies in the Test series and have started showing promising signs.
Sri Lanka will be led by Rumesh Ratnayake, who has taken charge of the team on an interim basis following the departure of previous head coach Mickey Arthur and will be assisted by Ruwin Peiris.
Top-order batter Aviska Fernando will miss the entirety of the ODI series after having tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, visitors Zimbabwe also enter the first ODI without a permanent head coach in charge of the team, with Lalchand Rajput forced to enter isolation after contracting Covid-19, a blow for Zimbabwe, who have won just one of their last 16 completed ODI fixtures.
The tourists will need to put together a batting order capable of making up the runs lost by Brendan Taylor’s retirement, with Craig Ervine named as captain and the experienced duo of Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams expected to form the spine of their batting order.
