Sri Lanka gear up for England challenge

Sri Lanka will look for a quick turnaround when they take on England in the ICC T20 World Cup Cricket Tournament Super 8 opening fixture at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy, today commencing at 3.00 p.m.

The home side had a good wakeup call when they suffered a shock six-wicket defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe in their last Group ‘B’ match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo a couple of days ago.

That massive setback has certainly brought a great amount of uncertainty for the Sri Lanka Team, who had earlier pulled off a stunning eight-wicket win over favourites Australia to seal their Super 8 spot.

Sri Lanka’s chances of going into the knock-out phase of the World Cup were dashed following that defeat and now they will need to bounce back with an improved performance.

Sri Lanka’s recent performances against England have not been all that impressive and they were whitewashed 3-0 in a bilateral T20I Series held earlier at this same venue.

In fact, England are on a 11-match winning streak having dominated the Island nation over the past few years in the shortest format of the game with Sri Lanka having last tasted success way back in 2014 at The Oval.

Even then, Sri Lanka will look for a fresh start from all their players as they eye an elusive semi-final spot in the 2026 T20 Cricket World Cup, which is jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will also be concerned with the amount of casualties in the side as they have already lost three of their key bowlers – Matheesha Pathirana, Wanindu Hasaranga and Eshan Malinga – due to injuries.

In contrast, England has less worries as they head to this Super 8 match with their heads high after having notched up back-to-back wins over two Associated Nations Scotland (five wickets) and Italy (24 runs).

The former champions, of course, started their campaign with a narrow four-run victory over Nepal and thereafter they suffered a 30-run defeat at the hands of England in Mumbai, India.

England’s batting will revolve around their openers Phil Salt and wicket-keeper Jos Buttler with Skipper Harry Brooke, Sam Curran and Will Jacks set to bolster the middle order.

England’s bowling department will be in the hands of seamers Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and leg-spinner Adil Rashid with all having captured six wickets each.

Sri Lanka’s key player, of course, will be their dynamic opener Pathum Nissanka, who has hit a purple patch in this tournament with a tally of 199 runs from his four innings inclusive of a hundred and one half century.

Wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Mendis has also brought his A-game into this tournament and has hammered three successive fifties from his four innings for a tally of 182 runs.

Pavan Rathnayake, Skipper Dasun Shanaka and all-rounder Dunith Wellalage will also need to fire in this game if Sri Lanka is to make a winning start to the Super 8 campaign.

Sri Lanka Squad

Dasun Shanaka (Captain) Kusal Perera, Dushmantha Chameera, Kusal Mendis, Dushan Hemantha, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pramod Madushan, Pathum Nissanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Kamil Mishara, Dunith Wellalage, Dilshan Madushanka and Pavan Rathnayake.

England Squad

Harry Brook (Captain), Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Jos Buttler, Jamie Overton, Ben Duckett, Jofra Archer, Luke Wood, Sam Curran, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, Tom Banton, Will Jacks, Jacob Bethell and Rehan Ahmed.

England wary of Sri Lanka’s in-form batsmen

England Captain Harry Brook reckons that Sri Lanka’s opener Pathum Nissanka will be the biggest threat for his team ahead of today’s ICC T20 World Cup Super 8 match at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy.

“Some of their batters are batting really well,” he said. “So hopefully we can get a few wickets in the powerplay. And Nissanka is on a bit of a heater at the minute, so it would be ideal if we can get him out early.”

Brook also said that they would look to carry their momentum into this match after having trounced Sri Lanka 3-0 earlier in a bilateral T20I Series at the same venue.

“We can take a lot of confidence having played here and experienced this surface and this ground. We had a very good series against them here, so we can hopefully take that experience and use it in the game tomorrow.”

There may be rain around on Sunday but Brook thinks even a shortened game won’t change England’s ambitions. He had said his batters had been “too careful” earlier in the tournament and wanted them to attack, whatever the game’s duration.

“I want us to go hell for leather in 20 overs anyway and go out there and really take it to the opposition with the bat and look to put them under pressure. So, there are not really, not too many changes there.”

“With the no carrying over of points or anything like that into the Super Eights, it’s a completely fresh start and we can see it like that as well. I feel like we can probably be a bit braver in certain situations.”