LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Day 31 of the Cricket World Cup (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
Veteran fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep has been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s squad for the remainder of the World Cup after contracting chickenpox.
The 32-year-old right-armer had taken five wickets in the tournament, taking 4-31 in the win over Afghanistan and 1-38 in the upset victory over England at Leeds last week.
Pradeep missed the loss at South Africa on Friday in Durham and has been replaced in the 15-man squad by Kasun Rajitha for Sri Lanka’s last two games.
The 26-year old Rajitha has five wickets in his six ODI appearances.
Sri Lanka must win its last two games against West Indies and India to have any chance of reaching the semifinals.
___
1:15 p.m.
Australia won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand in their day-night group match at Lord’s.
Australia, already qualified for the semifinals, is unchanged from the side which beat tournament-host England on Tuesday by 64 runs, also at Lord’s.
The Australians have won their last four games from batting first.
New Zealand made its first changes in the tournament, following its first loss, to Pakistan on Wednesday. Opening batsman Henry Nicholls starts in place of Colin Munro, and spinner Ish Sodhi is in for fast bowler Matt Henry.
Nicholls was the established opener with Martin Guptill but hurt his left hamstring before the tournament. He’s been fit for the last four games and sat them out with fast bowler Tim Southee.
The match will start with the temperature at 32 degrees C (89 F).
Lineups:
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon.
___
12:20 p.m.
Shaheen Afridi had a hat-trick opportunity after claiming two early wickets as Pakistan made a strong start before Afghanistan staged a recovery.
Afghanistan recovered from 27-2 to reach 120-3 after 25 overs of a game Pakistan needs to win as it pursues a World Cup semifinal spot.
Shaheen, a 19-year-old seamer, had Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib caught behind for 15 and dismissed Hashmatullah Shahidi immediately after for a golden duck.
With one ball left in the fifth over, Ikram Ali Khil denied Shaheen his hat trick.
Asghar Afghan on 42, and Ikram on 22, stabilized the innings.
___
10:15 a.m.
Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in their Cricket World Cup group game at Headingley.
Pakistan is still in contention for a semifinal spot after beating New Zealand by six wickets on Wednesday and has retained the same XI.
Afghanistan can’t be taken for granted in Leeds. It has lost all its previous seven games but gave India an unexpected scare in Southampton. It made one change to the lineup that lost to Bangladesh by 62 runs on Monday, bringing in veteran paceman Hamid Hassan for Dawlat Zadran.
Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and now has the same win-loss record through seven games as it did 27 years ago - three wins, three losses and one no result.
Conditions are hot and the wicket appears good.
Lineups:
Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ikram Ali Khil, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Rashid Khan, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rahmat Shah.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi.
___
9 a.m.
New Zealand needs one more win to join defending champion Australia in the Cricket World Cup semifinals. They meet on Saturday at Lord’s in a day-night match.
Pakistan needs to beat Afghanistan in Leeds to stay in semifinal contention. A win would lift Pakistan above England and into fourth in the standings.
New Zealand and Australia have lost only once each in this edition, but the Kiwis had a washout.
They have won their last two matchups against Australia, but they haven’t won three in a row in more than 12 years.
Australia has a 7-3 win-loss record against the Kiwis in World Cups, the last of them in the 2015 final.
David Warner, with 500, and captain Aaron Finch, with 496, lead the run-scorers in this World Cup, and are close to catching Ricky Ponting (539 in 2007) for second most by an Australian in a single edition. Matthew Hayden leads with 659, also in 2007.
Despite also being neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan have met only three times in one-day internationals, neither in their own countries. Pakistan has won all three, the last two in the Asia Cups of 2014 and 2018.
This will be their first meeting in a World Cup.
Fast bowler Wahab Riaz has 32 wickets all-time in World Cups, and needs two more to equal Imran Khan for second place for Pakistan. Wasim Akram leads with 55.
Gulbadin Naib needs one more wicket to equal the record for most by an Afghani in a single edition, 10 by Shapoor Zadran in 2015.
Afghanistan has lost all seven of its matches, so far, its longest losing streak in ODIs.
___
More AP cricket: www.apnews.com/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Please read our comment policy before commenting.