England are expected to beat struggling Sri Lanka and make it to the semi-finals when the two teams face off in a Group 1 match of the T20 World Cup here on Monday. Pre-tournament favorites England have played as expected in their first three matches, beating their opponents, including arch-rivals Australia, on Saturday night. The Eoin Morgan-led team, which is heavily driven by data and match-ups, seems to have covered all bases and backed up plans, even though they don’t need one yet.
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england team news
England sent a scathing statement to all the other teams that trounced Australia by eight wickets, who were also looking for a strong unit till their weaknesses were exposed. Jos Buttler was just unstoppable against Australia and it is another big positive for England going into the knock-out stage. Their wide margin of victory in all three matches means their middle-order has not been tested, but Morgan is confident they will do well when the time comes. He opened the bowling with Adil Rashid on Saturday instead of Moeen Ali, considering Aaron Finch’s struggle against the leggie. Moeen didn’t need to bowl at all. Pacer Chris Woakes was brilliant with the new ball and Chris Jordan also came into the party with a triple strike. Death overs specialist Tymal Mills was a bit expensive against Australia but he has managed to pick up wickets throughout the tournament. Part-time spinner Liam Livingstone has also done well for the team, providing Morgan with another valuable bowling resource. Sri Lanka will have to do something special to stop England’s dominance in Sharjah.
Sri Lanka Team News
Considering their inexperience, Sri Lanka have not played too badly and the final over against South Africa could have ended either way. Unfortunately for them, this was their second loss in three matches and they would have to win against England to keep themselves in the competition.
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Charith Aslanka has been in fine form and opener Pathum Nisanka from Sri Lanka’s point of view was pleased to see South Africa attack. If the batsmen do better, the bowlers have shown on Saturday afternoon that they are capable of defending a good score. The bowlers did well to retain Sri Lanka for most of the innings, until they were undone by David Miller’s six-hitting skills in the 20th over. Barring the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match, the pitch here is not good for batting and batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa is hopeful that the trend will continue.
“Yeah, we knew that when we came to Sharjah, we knew Sharjah was not great to bat in the last few matches except the game we played against Bangladesh which was a very true wicket . “Salute to Patham Nissaka, as the batting was not up to standard, but the wicket was not helping the batsmen either,” he said, referring to Nissenka’s 72 against the Proteas.
What: England vs Sri Lanka, Super-12, T20 World Cup Match
When: 1 November (Monday)
where: Sharjah International Stadium
Time: 7:30 PM IS
squad to choose from
England: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, David Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nisanka, Charit Aslanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapakse, Chamika Karunaratne, Vanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chamira, Lahiru Kumara, Akish Thekanya. , Binura Fernando.
(with PTI inputs)
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