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T20 World Cup | ENG vs SL: Lankan fate hanging by a thread as Morgan’s men eye semi-final berth

Abhishek Singh

The Sri Lankan team snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory as Lahiru Kumara didn’t bowl even a single wide yorker or short ball to South African David Miller. The left hander hit two sixes on the first two balls of the 20th over to lead his team to victory when 15 were required of the last over. 

This was how their last match ended and even after a hattrick from Wanindu Hasaranga, they were not able to win a game that they should have. On the other hand, England were clinical as ever as they beat their arch-rivals Australia by eight wickets and chased down a paltry target of 126 in only 11.4 overs to earn not just a win, but to stamp authority that they mean business and they are the best in the business. 

Now, these two teams will face each other at Sharjah with very different goals in a match that would clear a lot of things in Group 1 or the group of death. 

What's at stake?

For Sri Lanka, who have one win from three games and are to face West Indies in their last game, it is a chance to keep their hopes of qualification to the semi-finals alive. 

If they win this game and given the fact that Australia have to face Bangladesh and West Indies in their next two games and South Africa would be up against England and Bangladesh, the Lankan Lions could fancy themselves remaining in the mix as their net run rate isn’t that bad either. 

The victory of Sri Lanka could also prove that England are beatable and would give a lot of confidence not only to South Africa who are supposed to win against England to be in the fray for a berth in the semifinals but even to Group 2 teams who might be facing the English in the semis or the final. 

On the other hand, England would be looking to keep the momentum and with this win qualify for the semi-finals before even facing South Africa, which could be a difficult game at Sharjah. 

What needs to change?

The only team that would be looking to change things are Sri Lanka. They have a lot of problems in batting and to name a few are Avishka Fernando and Kusal Perera. Even the form of skipper Dasun Shanaka is not that good, but he with his ability to bowl and also the mind to lead the nation, more than covers up for his lack of form. 

However, after Perera’s innings against Australia, he hasn’t been able to get going. Fernando on the other hand has failed in all games, even being unable to cross the double-digit mark in the last five innings. 

Thus he needs to be replaced and Dhananjaya de Silva, a more than capable enough batter at number four and also a good enough off-spin bowler, should be given a chance to play in the World Cup. Even Dinesh Chandimal can be given a chance at the opening position in place of Perera. 

For England, they need to test their bench strength and for once would like to chase something more competitive and even 150 could be competitive at Sharjah. Thus instead of getting the bad day in the semis or against South Africa, Eoin Morgan wouldn’t mind getting a tough game against Sri Lanka and then scaling through it, much like they got a bad game against India at the league in the 2019 ODI World Cup. 

England vs Sri Lanka: Match Details

Match Number - 29

Date and Time: November 01, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at Sharjah has come back to be the same old trying wicket for the batters as it was during the IPL. Most of the matches here have been played in the daytime and at day, a score of anything above 150 is getting difficult to chase. However, at night chasing could get a little easy in conditions that might have dew and the ball would skid on. 

Weather Forecast

The temperature at the stadium will fall from 31-degree Celsius at 06:00 pm to 27-degree Celsius by 09:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 57% to 71% meaning that there would be dew in the wicket and would help the team batting second. 

Team News

England

For England, there is a chance to try out the rest of the people, but as far as Morgan’s philosophy is concerned, he doesn’t believe in easy games and if his top XI is fit, he wouldn’t want to change it. 

Probable XI

Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills

Sri Lanka

For Sri Lanka, they might think about replacing Kumara, which wouldn’t be a good call. But they must replace Avishka Fernando and bring in de Silva. 

Probable XI

Kusal Perera (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara

CE XI Fantasy team

Wicketkeepers Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow

Batters Jason Roy, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka

All-rounders Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasaranga

Bowlers Chris Woakes, Tymal Mills, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana

Vice-Captain Wanindu Hasaranga

Captain Jos Buttler

Discover more

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