England Vs Sri Lanka, Match Preview
England’s performance a couple days ago was the definition of dominance. They bossed the powerplay, restricted Australia to a low score, and hammered them with the bat. The chase was finished with fifty balls left, and England didn’t even have to use some of their best players. For instance, Moeen Ali, who is in the middle of an amazing tournament, didn’t bowl against Australia. The depth in England’s line-up is visible, and will be scary for other sides.
The World Cup has seen England bring out some underrated performers. Chris Woakes, and Liam Livingstone are talented players, but they rarely get the credit they deserve. This year though, both players have stood up, and attracted loads of attention.
With England in top form, it looks tough to stop them. Sri Lanka has found it tough to get past them as well. They struggled in England, and the side has faced a lot of issues on that trip. With contract issues and bubble breaches, there has been a lot of changes in the Sri Lankan team. The transformation that has come out though looks good. Sri Lanka has found a strong bowling attack, and the batting is pretty good for the slow UAE surfaces.
They came close to beating South Africa, until David Miller’s heroics. Hasaranga is doing well with the ball, and the pace attack is fearsome. The outfit is different to what England faced a few months ago, and the fixture could have some spice if Sri Lanka bring the spark they had in the previous games.
England Vs Sri Lanka, Team News
England don’t need to make any changes to their side. They have a lot of bowling options, and batting depth. Mark Wood is coming back to fitness, but it will be tough for England to leave out the likes of Mills, despite a tough game against Australia.
Sri Lanka could come in unchanged as well. They are fighting well in the Super 12s despite finishing on the wrong side of results.
England Vs Sri Lanka, Predicted XIs
England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Tymal Mills/Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Lahiru Kumara / Akila Dananjaya
England Vs Sri Lanka, Players to Watch out for
Wanindu Hasaranga
Hasaranga took a hat-trick against South Africa, and put his side in a strong position. A good final over from Kumara could have got Sri Lanka to four points, but it wasn’t meant to be. Nevertheless, Hasaranga continues to establish himself in World Cricket, and his leg-spin is growing more with each game. He will have a massive role to play against England, and his four overs will be the gamechanger.
Liam Livingstone
Livingstone had a magnificent Hundred, and England are finding more uses for him each game. He bowled four handy overs against Australia, and his spin is pretty effective on the slow tracks. With Ben Stokes missing, Livingstone is filling some big shoes, and he is doing it handsomely.
England Vs Sri Lanka, Pitch Report
The Sharjah pitch isn’t too bad for batting. There is some carry, a lot of turn, and the small boundaries gives hope for the batters. Dew is a factor, and bowling first will be the choice yet again.
