The defending champions England will take on Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Thursday. The Three Lions have got off to a horrid start, winning a solitary match out of the four they have played.
The Jos Buttler-led team suffered a huge loss of 229 runs in their previous match against South Africa, which also took a hit on their Net Run Rate. On the other hand, after losing their first three matches, Sri Lanka finally registered their maiden win of the tournament against the Netherlands, winning by five wickets.
Meanwhile, England bowlers took a beating against South Africa, conceding a mammoth score of 399 runs on the board. Furthermore, Reece Topley has been ruled out with a finger injury, which adds salt to their wounds.
England’s bowling has looked toothless so far in the competition and they will need to turn the tables against the Islanders.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka is also hit by injury concerns. Angelo Mathews has replaced Matheesha Pathirana in the squad and the veteran all-rounder will definitely add more experience to the team.
In fact, Mathews had scored an unbeaten knock of 85 runs against England in the 2019 World Cup and the Islanders had stunned the hosts by 20 runs. But that Sri Lankan team had the great Lasith Malinga, who took four wickets, in the final XI.
Match Prediction: Despite not being in the best of forms, England will still start as favorites against depleted Sri Lanka.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka, Chamika Karunaratne
