Toss Sri Lanka chose to field vs England
Sri Lanka have opted to chase against England in Pallekele, hoping to replicate their dominant victory over Australia here to kickstart their Super Eight campaign.
It was six days ago that Pathum Nissanka‘s unbeaten 100 saw the hosts chase down Australia’s total of 181 with eight wickets and two overs to spare. And home skipper Dasun Shanaka is looking to utilise that confidence in this Group 2 encounter. “We’ve been chasing well in the past few occasions and happy to chase again,” Shanaka said at the toss. “The boys are very confident playing here.”
England skipper Harry Brook – on his 27th birthday – again called for bravery after his side stumbled into the second stage of this tournament. The two-time champions have gone in with an unchanged team for the fourth match in a row, with Jamie Overton retaining his place as the allrounder. Brook’s only slight worry is a cut to Jacob Bethell‘s bowling hand (sustained during the match against West Indies), which is likely to prevent him from bowling due to the strapping on his finger.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, made two changes to their XI, with Dushmantha Chameera returning in place of Pramod Madushan, having been rested for the defeat to Zimbabwe. Kamil Mishara came back in for the man who replaced him, Kusal Perrera, as the hosts shuffled once more in an attempt to find a functional opening partnership.
These two squads know each other very well, having only concluded a three-match T20I series against one another at the start of the month, which took place entirely in Pallekele. England secured a 3-0 scoreline, capping things off with a professional 12-run win in a low-scoring encounter.
As for the outfield, both sides are primed for a different evening of ground-fielding on patchy grass. Heavy rains have punctuated the five days leading into this clash. Overnight precipitation has sodden the edges of the field, though the middle parts of the ground had been well-covered.
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kamil Mishara, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Pavan Rathnayake, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Dunith Wellelage, 8 Dushan Hemantha, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Dilshan Madushanka, 11 Dushmantha Chameera
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (capt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Jamie Overton, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Adil Rashid