The Men's 2023 ODI World Cup is now building towards the final on November 19. Each morning we will round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the insights from our reporters on the ground.
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Top Story: Fazalhaq Farooqi and Co bring more glory to Afghanistan
Afghanistan 242 for 3 (Omarzai 73, Rahmat 62, Shahidi 58*) beat Sri Lanka 41 (Nissanka 46, Farooqi 4-34) by seven wickets
For the second game running Afghanistan showcased exemplary calm in the chase, whittling down a sub-par target of 242 with ice-cold composure. A trio of fifties from Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai led the way, as Afghanistan leapfrogged Sri Lanka into fifth place on the points table with six points now on the board.
Sri Lanka meanwhile are virtually out of the running for a semi-final berth, needing to essentially win all of their next three games - against India, Bangladesh and New Zealand - to stand any chance.
Click here to read the full report
Match analysis: Afghanistan turn to careful cricket for unprecedented success
Their batting has settled from sometimes erratic to methodical in three of five games they played before this one. While they had blowouts against Bangladesh and New Zealand, they topped 270 against India (although the surface could easily have provided many more) and 280 against England and Pakistan. In those matches, there's been a sense of steadiness in their approach which was felt even as they went boundary-less between the 10th and 20th over in the chase.
Afghanistan's plan is quite simply to build in 10-over periods, and it's not a strategy so mysterious that it needs to be hidden from anyone. They have a white-board in the dressing room, with the targets marked out. For this match it was straightforward was simple: 50 runs after 10 overs (which they got), 100 after 20 (they were 13 short) and so on in multiples, with a target to win by the 48th over. The idea may seem so rudimentary that it doesn't need writing down but for Afghanistan it's a reminder that they need to use the whole innings and not rush things.
Read the full analysis from Firdose Moonda in Pune
Must Watch: The growth of Afghanistan
Afghanistan notched up their third win of the 2023 World Cup, beating Sri Lanka by seven wickets
News headlines
Inzamam-ul-Haq has resigned as Pakistan chief selector with immediate effect after meeting PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf in Lahore today after uncomfortable questions around a potential conflict of interest were raised.
Pakistan's coach Grant Bradburn stopped short of calling them an isolated team in international cricket, but did point out the lack of experience against big teams and in India as they fight to stay alive and hope for other results to go their way in the World Cup.
Match preview
Bangladesh vs Pakistan, Kolkata (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT)
The Pakistan team director says that the side hasn't been able to put together the "perfect game" yet
This is as much a misery derby as it is a subcontinental one. But for England's doomed title defence, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the two sides at the bottom of the form table, having combined to lose their last nine matches in this competition. In a sequence of events that has become wearily predictable, off-field drama has overshadowed the lack of on-field accomplishment.
Shakib Al Hasan bizarrely flew back home to Bangladesh to work on his batting technique after their game against South Africa, while in Pakistan, accusations of unpaid salaries, player power, and PCB incompetence and malfeasance have already relegated World Cup performances to a sideshow.
Team news
Pakistan (possible) 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq/Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Usama Mir, 9 Mohammad Wasim/Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf
Bangladesh (possible) 1 Litton Das, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam
Comment: Why middling scores make for the best kind of ODI
There is, of course, the vicarious thrill of a low score being defended - like Netherlands did against Bangladesh on the same day as the Australia-New Zealand runfest, and India did against England a day later - but it's the ODIs that produce middling scores, on pitches that don't reduce bowlers to run-servers, that appeal the most to me. Cue the other thriller from last week: South Africa's stuttering, nervy chase against Pakistan, where the No. 11 stoutly blocked out a few thunderbolts before the No. 9 secured the win with a deft shot.
Texture makes ODIs richer and that's what the format has over T20s, which can become monochromatic. And of course, when the bowlers are in the game, the match usually stays a contest for longer.
Read the full piece from Sambit Bal
Scenarios: Can Sri Lanka and Pakistan still make the semi-finals?
Keep up to date with the qualification permutations in the run to the knockout stage