Sri Lanka will take on England in the last game of group 1 in Super 12. It is a do-or-die affair for the English who happen to be the top contenders to lift the trophy.
Overview
England
Firstly, let's look at how they fared in this T20 World Cup so far.
1st Game - They won comfortably against Afghanistan by 5 wickets.
2nd game - Lost against Ireland by 5 runs.
3rd game - The game against Australia was abandoned due to rain.
4th game - Won comfortably against New Zealand by 20 runs.
They have been part of all the possible results and now they are up against the Sri Lankan side who will take the field with the intention of spoiling the party for them. The NRR is not a concern for them, they just need to win this game and they will qualify for the semis along with New Zealand. In case they lose, Australia will qualify. They have got probably the best opening combination in this World Cup in the form of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales but they were not up to the mark in the first few games which lead them to a defeat against Ireland. They fired against the New Zealand side and as result, England managed to post a score of 179 against New Zealand. For England, their main strength is their batting and if they want to go further in the tournament then their middle needs to step up and score more runs. Sri Lanka will surely not be an easy side for England to defeat. The teams outside of the subcontinent are not known for playing spin well and Sri Lanka with their spin attack can bundle the out-of-form English middle order. Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone haven't made any impact with the bat in this World Cup but England fans will be hoping that they get their team to the semi-final with a special inning when they take on the Lankan lions.
Sri Lanka
In this rain-affected T20 World Cup where every team's results have been affected due to rains, Sri Lanka is one of few teams whose results have not been affected by rain. They have played 4 games out of which they won 2 and they lost 2. They haven't defeated any higher-ranked side as of now but tomorrow they have the best chance to win a game and knock out England from the tournament. Again the spinners will be the key for the Sri Lankan side. For Sri Lanka, it's all about giving their best and going home with a win against their name against the favourites in the tournament and if they manage to win they will also go above England in the points table (though, it won't be enough for them to qualify for the semis).
Facts & Milestones
Head to head
Games played -13
Won by England -9
Won by Sri Lanka - 4
- Barring the first (2007) and the last edition (2021) of the T20 World Cup, every final has featured either of these 2 sides - SL (2009, 2012 & 2014) & Eng (2010 & 2016).
- Jos Buttler needs just 32 runs to complete 2500 T20I runs.
- Jos Buttler during his last innings of 73 surpassed Mogan's 2458 runs to become the highest run-getter for England in T20Is.
- Kusal Mendis needs 11 runs to complete 7000 international runs.
- Alex Hales needs 68 runs to complete 5000 international runs.
- Ben Stokes needs 9 runs to complete 500 T20I runs.
Most runs
Jos Buttler
8 innings
357 runs
89.25 average
Most wickets
C Jordan
9 innings
17 wickets
Probable Playing XI:
England: Alex Hales, Jos Buttler (C & WK), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis , Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksha, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasum Rajitha , Lahiru Kumara , Pramod Madushan
Pitch and Weather Report:
As this is a night match, the temperature will be low within the range of 18 - 20 with no signs of rain.
Sydney has been probably the best wicket for batters, scoring is comparatively easy here as bowlers don't get much help from the pitch and if England bats first they would like to score 180 or above.
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney
Date: Saturday, 5th November
Time: 7:00 pm Local time, 1:30 pm IST
Dream11 Team
