Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will face each other in the second T20I of the series on 13th July at Dambulla.
Match Preview:
This ongoing long series so far has been a revelation for Sri Lanka and misery for Bangladesh. For long, Sri Lanka’s batting have failed to put up a desirable show ( just like Pakistan’s) and the bowling side time and again carried the team. But in this series, this long-stood batting collapse has changed.
In the previous T20I, the bowler did a good job, but batters? They were exceptional. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis did put up a great show with the bat, moreover, Asalanka has been performing consistently. And here is an interesting stat, right through the tour, at least one batter in top 5 has performed for Sri Lanka, making the job easier for the bowlers.
If anything, Sri Lanka would love to carry this approach in the coming games as well given the T20 World Cup is next year, the islanders would hope to perform with this mix and match of players they have right now in the squad.
The cricket has not shown mercy to the Bangladesh side lately. They lost to UAE and Pakistan in the last two series and now they have lost both Test and ODI series so far against Sri Lanka as well. The side has only won one game in this tour as well.
Their batting did not perform, their bowling was flawed, nothing has worked for Bangladesh so far, but there is hope, as there always is.
The captain Litton Das, allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Towhid Hridoy need to be at their absolute best if Bangladesh want to create a chance of finally winning a series.
Nevertheless, Rishad Hossain can play a vital role in breaking this curse given Sri Lanka’s trials against leg spin. If the captain uses Rishad wisely in the upcoming game, Bangladesh may stand a chance to bag the in-from Sri Lanka’s batters? Besides Hossain, Taskin Ahmed need to bowl better as he was expensive in the last outing.
Probable Playing XI:
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt, wk), 4 Mohammad Naim, 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Mehiday Hasan Miraz, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Rishad Hossain, 11 Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Jeffrey Vandersay, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Binura Fernando 11 Nuwan Thushara
Pitch and weather report:
Dambulla was a high scoring venue until 2024. From that year, the curators pulled out more spin friendly pitches It remains to be seen whether the surface for the second T20I will favour the batters or spinners.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 17 games have been played between the two sides, 11 games have been won by the Sri Lanka side while Bangladesh could accumulate victory in six.
Prediction:
Given how the home side has been performing, they are favourites to win the match.
Where to Watch:
Sri Lanka: Ten Cricket, Siyatha TV, Dialog TV, SLT IPTV
Bangladesh: Nagorik TV, Toffee, T Sports
Pakistan: Ten Sports, Tapmad
India: Fancode app, Sony LIV app, Sony Sports Network
South Africa: Supersport Cricket
UK: TNT Sports
Caribbean: Rush
