Venue: Bristol
Timing: 3 PM IST
The 16th match of the ICC World Cup 2019 will see Bangladesh taking on fellow Asian nation Sri Lanka at the Bristol Country Cricket Ground in Bristol. Sri Lanka had played three games and has lost one, won one and one was washed away. Bangladesh has played three and lost two and won one.
The Bangladeshi team was defeated by England in their last match, as they just weren’t capable of chasing down 380 odd runs that Eoin Morgan and co. had put up on the board. The only good news was Shakib-Al-Hasan scoring a wonderful century. He, along with Tamim and Mushfiqur are the pillars of Bangla batting, while Mahmudullah, Mosaddek, and Saifuddin providing death overs impetus.
Given that they have done relatively well, defeating South Africa in their first match, Bangladesh will look to continue with the same team against Sri Lanka as well. A concern for the Tigers in the form of their captain Mashrafe Mortaza, whose bowling is ineffective and though he is a great captain, he isn’t contributing much to the team’s cause.
Sri Lanka needs to rethink some strategies, as they have 3 points from three games in the World Cup. Against minnows Afghanistan, the team struggled to 201 and if it wasn’t for Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga, Afghanistan might have chased down the revised target easily. The batting is not looking convincing so far, with Angelo Mathews making no significant contribution of any kind in any of matches.
Nuwan Pradeep was ruled out of this match and with medium pacers galore, the Lankans might want to add a spinner like Milinda Siriwardana in the attack, given that he can bat as well. The match is important for both the teams and favors tilt in favor of the Men in Green given their more brilliant teamwork.
Bangladesh Predicted Playing XI:
Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib-Al-Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Mustafizur Rahman
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI:
Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Kusal Perera (WK), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga
