An interesting clash of Group A is to be held at Wellington at 3:30 am as per the Indian Standard Time. Both the teams till now have not seen easy going matches in the tournament. Sri Lanka lost their opening game to the hosts New Zealand, managed to win somehow against Afghanistan, and had a decent win against Bangladesh. They are at the second position of their respective pool’s points table with 4 points.
In the last matches played by Sri Lanka in the tournament, their big hitters like Sangakkara and Jayawardene have scored centuries. Even their big hitter Dilshan has also got a hundred in the match against Bangladesh. If these three are able to keep up their form in the England match also then it’s going to get more troublesome for Anderson and co to encompass the Sri Lankan score within the reach of the English batting.
Cricket World Cup 2015: England vs Sri Lanka Preview
On the other hand their opponents England are at the second last position of their respective points table after sufferings two thrashing defeats from the two hosts; New Zealand and Australia. In their last match England had their first victory in this edition of World Cup against Scotland and is looking forward to snatch away another two points from their next match.
English batting is not that much effective; this has been proved by their performance in the match against Kiwis where the batsmen managed to get just 123 runs on the board. Even their bowling was also thrashed by McCullum. Highest runs were given by Fin who went for 2 overs by conceding 49 runs, causing the culmination of the match before half time. England made a comeback in the match against Scotland, where a brilliant century was struck by Moeen Ali. But his real test is to perform against Sri Lanka in the upcoming encounter. The bowlers also seem to have found their line and length, but time will only tell whether it is enough to stop Jayawardene and co.
On the other hand Sri Lanka also suffered an upset against New Zealand. In their second game against Afghanistan, the team again went for a shameful defeat but, all thanks to Thisara Perera and Jayawardene, Sri Lanka stood victorious. The top three of the order , Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan; all have got centuries in the last three matches and are hopeful that they will be able to keep up the same against Morgan and co. Sri Lankan bowling is powered by their ace pacer Lasith Malinga who have not performed as per the expectations. Malinga will also be charged up for the next game and is hopeful as well that he will be able to manage some early wickets for his side.
Each side has got ample talent to give their opponents a tough fight. Moeen Ali’s innings against Scotland have made the side hopeful that they will be able to put a handsome score by making Ali’s innings a foundation. Malinga has always been an asset for Sri Lanka and it’s high time now for a player like him to get back and bowl those stunning Yorkers.
Tags: Cricket, Cricket World Cup, CWC 2015, Dilshan, England, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Sri Lanka
