Overview:
Its England vs Sri Lanka in a Virtual Eliminator. You read it right, it’s a virtual eliminator and that too just at the beginning of the second half of the league stage. Both sides have lost 3 matches each and one more loss will make sure that they won’t be winning more than 5 matches this edition. On the top of that, both sides are yet to face India, who are currently on top of the Points Table and yet to be beaten. So, a loss this match would lead to things going out of their hands and leaving them dependent on other results for their qualification.
England: They might have entered the tournament as the defending champions, but they are yet to match that tag with their performance. After facing an upset against Afghanistan, they faced another loss to South Africa and that too by a huge margin. Ben Stokes’ return didn’t help them too. None of their batsman have crossed 200 Runs so far in the WC while all other sides, except Netherlands, have at least one batsman each with 200 Runs. Their bowlers haven’t been exciting too.
Sri Lanka: Being the last team to get their first win, the positive thing for Sri Lanka right now is their winning momentum. Injuries of their captain Dasun Shanaka and Matheesha Pathirana have further dented their journey in the tournament. Their batting, though, has been decent but it’s their bowling, which hasn’t been good enough.
Probable XI:
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c)(wk), Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (c)(wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka
Interesting Facts and Stats
England (49) needs 1 more win to complete 50 World Cup Wins. So far, Australia, New Zealand and India have reached the milestone.
If Sri Lanka lose this ODI, they would become the team with Most Losses in World Cup with 48 defeats surpassing Zimbabwe, who have lost 47 ODIs in World Cups.
Jos Buttler needs 90 Runs to complete 5000 ODI Runs
Joe Root Needs 70 Runs to complete 1000 World Cup Runs.
Maheesh Theekshana needs just 4 wickets to complete 50 ODI Wickets
Both these sides, apart from India, are the only 3 sides to have played all the 15 players from their squad.
With Sri Lanka’s Win in their last match, this is only the 3rd World Cup to have all the teams winning at least one match each, after 1983 and 1992.
Match Details:
Date: 26 October 2023
Time: 02:00 PM Local Time (8:30 AM GMT)
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Pitch and Weather Report:
Chinnaswamy is known for offering lot of runs to the batting teams and this match would be no different. Pacers could be effective with the new ball while Spinners can be handy once the ball loses its shine. Chasing side will be benefitted with dew.
Teams winning toss would prefer to bat first, put a huge total on the board and put the chasing side in immense pressure.
Dream XI:
