Sri Lanka will rely heavily on its bowling unit to make up for its relatively weak batting department, while Bangladesh would look for consistency when the two teams clash in a Super 12 Group 1 match of the T20 World Cup in Sharjah on Sunday (October 24). Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had to go through the first round group stage to secure their places in the Super 12s.
While Sri Lanka topped Group A with three wins out of as many games, Bangladesh finished second in Group B behind Scotland. Sri Lanka defeated Namibia by seven wickets, before beating Ireland by 70 runs. In their last qualifying match against Netherlands, they skittled out the opposition for 44 and then accumulated the runs with eight wickets in hand.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, were far from impressive. The Tigers were stunned by Scotland by six runs in their opener before they scrapped past Oman by 26 runs and then defeated Papua New Guinea by 84 runs to qualify for the Super 12s.
But the road ahead would be tough for both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The two teams will have to go past the challenges of fellow Group 1 sides England, Australia, defending champions West Indies and South Africa if they wish to go deeper into the tournament. Going forward in the tournament, Sri Lanka will have to deal with their stuttering top-order.
Snaps of Bangladesh team final practice session ahead of the Super 12 clash against Sri Lanka #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/N66wBHIGjE
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) October 23, 2021
After successive failures against Namibia and Ireland, Dinesh Chandimal lost out his place to Charith Asalanka, who didn’t help his cause either, scoring just 6 in the low-scoring game against Netherlands. Kusal Perera returned among runs but the likes of opener Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and skipper Dasun Shanaka need to take up more responsibility.
On the bowling front, the pressure would be high on pace trio of Lahiru Kumara, Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera to deliver the goods while the spin department will be offie Maheesh Theekshana and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva's responsibility.
In Mohammad Naim, Liton Das and Afif Hossain, Bangladesh have some talented batters up the order but the mantle of guiding the side remains largely on the shoulders of veterans Shakib Al Hasan, skipper Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Barring the loss against Scotland, it has been a good build up to the event for Bangladesh. In fact, since losing to New Zealand in March away from home, Bangladesh have registered series wins over Zimbabwe (2-1), Australia (4-1) and New Zealand (3-2).
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando.
Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (capt), Liton Das, Mohammed Naim, Mahedi Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nurul Hasan (WK), Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammed Saifuddin.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka begins on October 24 at 3:30 PM IST.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka will be held in Sharjah.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka will be available on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, and Star Sports Hindi
The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka will stream live on the Disney+Hotsar app and website.
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