Sri Lanka will take on hosts England in a must-win clashwin conflict at Headingley in the ICC World Cup 2019. Both the teams have had a differentiating journey in this edition of the tournament.
As yet recuperating from their 87-run drubbing against Australia, Sri Lanka will presently confront an intense fight for survival when they lock horns with an overwhelming England in their World Cup fixture.
With only one win, Sri Lanka are as of now at the 6th spot with four points and should win rest of their four matches to rescue any expectations of an elimination round compartment.
The 1996 champions had lost their opening match against New Zealand and afterward rain burglarized them off an opportunity to fight when two of their games were washed out.
A week ago, Sri Lanka endured a 87-run loss against Australia at London and it will take an exceptional presentation for the Island country to keep themselves above water for the knockout stage when they face has England, who have looked relentless.
England are set at the second spot with four wins from five games, the main flaw being their misfortune to Pakistan.
Eoin Morgan and his men have risen as the best batting side this World Cup as they have overwhelmed their rivals, gathering 300 or more scores in four of the five amusements – two of them being 386/6 against Bangladesh and 397/6 against Afghanistan.
Indeed, five English batsmen are among the 10 most noteworthy scoring batsmen this World Cup and the group increases in five hundreds out of the 12 World Cup hundreds of years up until now.
Despite the fact that England batsmen the services of opener Jason Roy because of injury, Morgan’s fierce 148 which was studded with a record 17 sixes helped them put 397-6 against Afghanistan, with Joe Root playing the second fiddle.
To stop this savage power called England, Sri Lanka should happen of their skins with the onus laying on the pace team of Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep.
In batting, Sri Lanka too need to address their weakness in the center request which saw them breakdown in each match up until this point.
While against New Zealand, Sri Lanka lost five wickets for 14 races to be packaged out for 136, they were expelled for 201 in 36.5 overs by Afghanistan in the wake of losing seven wickets for 36 runs.
In their last match against Australia, Sri Lanka slipped from 205 for 3 to be full scale for 247 and the Dimuth Karunaratne-drove side should think of an unprecedented batting exertion to counter any semblance of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, who have 12 and 9 wickets so far individually.
Squads:
England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.
Venue: Headingley, Leeds
Where to watch live: The match starts at 3 pm IST. It will be broadcast live on the StarSports network in India. Online viewers can log in to Hotstar for all the live action.
Team News: Jason Roy who got injured West Indies will miss the match against Sri Lanka. He is targeting to return in the match against Australia. Liam Plunkett missed out in the previous match due to illness and is set to make comeback.
Possible XI
England possible XI: Jonny Bairstow, James Vince, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett
Sri Lanka possible XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana
Betting odds (bet365)
England: 1/12
Sri Lanka: 7
Prediction
Sri Lanka need a win to stay in contention for a place in the semi-finals but it looks highly unlikely that they would defeat England.
