Sri Lanka will host Bangladesh in the third and last T20 of the ongoing series on 16th July at Colombo.
Match Preview:
It is the last chance for Bangladesh to win a series in this tour of Sri Lanka as they have lost Test and ODI series previously. They had leveled the ODI series before but ended up losing the decider. Nevertheless, after showing exceptional performance in the second T20, the tourist side has set yet another decider.
Bangladesh have won only two games in this year and are yet to win a series. Bangladesh would be happy to finally win a series and one major reason can be this for the return to form of Litton Das. Das, who was struggling to get his groove back, finally scored 76 off 50 and stitched important partnerships with Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain.
The action now shifts back to the R Premadasa Stadium, where the pitch now has a batting-first score comparable to the Shere Bangla National Stadium during night games. The familiarity wouldn’t bother Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka would be hoping to bounce back and on a serious note, they can. Although they were bundled out for just 94 in the last game which was their lowest T20 score at home, the side still has in enough form to win the decider.
Captain Charith Asalanka must make sure that the bowling choices in his XI are balanced and not overly unbalanced. While players like Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne must contribute with the bat, he would also anticipate runs from Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando.
Wanindu Hasaranga has been missed by Asalanka since legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay hasn’t performed well in the series thus far.
Probable Playing XI:
Sri Lanka (probable XI): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Chamika Karunaratne/Dunith Wellalage, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Binura Fernando, 11 Nuwan Thushara
Bangladesh (probable XI): 1 Parvez Hossain Emon, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Litton Das (capt, wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Pitch and weather report:
Nine of the previous 10 Twenty20 Internationals at the R Premadasa Stadium have been lost by the team batting first in night matches. Compared to the first two Twenty20 Internationals played at Pallekele and Dambulla, the average batting first score in these 10 matches has been 125 runs. Rainfall is also predicted for the evening.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 18 games have been played between the two sides, 11 games have been won by the Sri Lanka side while Bangladesh could accumulate victory in seven.
Prediction:
Sri Lanka is favourite to win this ongoing T20 series
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
