Table of Contents
England will take on Sri Lanka in a must-win T20 World Cup Super 12s clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturda.
The Super 12s of the T20 World Cup 2022 is now getting towards its decisive end, and the competition has stiffened post quite a few rather surprising results in the round. Ireland’s five-run win against England in a rain-marred encounter in Melbourne opened up Group 2 significantly, as did the washouts, which deprived teams of crucial points.
After a dismal showing with the bat in their win against Afghanistan and the defeat to Ireland, England managed to up their game against New Zealand, with skipper Jos Buttler and Alex Hales scoring fifties to lay the foundation for a 20-run win.
There is still some uncertainty over the fluency of Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes’ form, which could put pressure on the rest of the middle-order comprising Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and young Harry Brook.
Mark Wood has been sizzling with his pace and accuracy, while Sam Curran has been highly effective at death. Livingstone has been highly impactful with his part-time spin to support Adil Rashid, and Stokes and Moeen ensure that Buttler has quality options at his disposal even on challenging days.
Sri Lanka have had a highly mixed campaign ever since the competition’s start, which saw them going down to Namibia in the opener before they cleared the opening round with back-to-back wins over UAE and the Netherlands. They registered dominant wins over Ireland and Afghanistan but struggled against Australia and New Zealand, despite flashes of brilliance first up. They have been overly reliant on a spin, and untimely injuries to key speedsters hasn’t helped their case either.
The batting rests largely on the stabilizing shoulders of Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva, with the rest expected to up the scoring at various phases. The Sri Lankans have shown in recent times that they can trump the best on any given day, as was the case in their triumphant Asia Cup 2022 campaign in the UAE in September. The significance of the contest promises another entertaining clash at the T20 World Cup 2022.
Key players
One of the most destructive batters in the modern-day white-ball game, Jos Buttler showcased his brilliance in a match-winning knock of 73 off 47 against New Zealand after failures in the previous two outings. He boasts a fine record against Sri Lanka – 357 runs at 89.25 with a strike-rate of 148.13 – till date, with his only century in the format coming against the island nation in last year’s T20 World Cup.
Mark Wood has evolved as one of England’s most sought-after bowlers in the shortest format in recent months, having rattled the best of batters with his searing pace. He was impactful during England’s win in the seven-match series in Pakistan and in the three-match series in Australia in build-up to the competition and has been going consistently since. The player could be Buttler’s premier go-to bowler once again at any given stage in the game.
Ranked second in the ICC Men’s T20I Bowling rankings and eighth among the all-rounders, Wanindu Hasaranga is arguably Sri Lanka’s most valuable cricketer in T20I cricket. The mystery spinner currently tops the wicket-taking charts at the T20 World Cup, with 13 wickets at 13.54, including 3/13 in his most recent outing against Afghanistan. Hasaranga has bagged five wickets from four outings against England in T20Is while maintaining an economy of 6.33. His fine ball-striking skills too, can be extremely resourceful at the back end.
Kusal Mendis has scored the most runs for Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup so far – 205 runs at 34.17 – and is among the leading-run scorers in the competition overall. The right-hander, alongside de Silva, has lent his side solidity at the top in recent times, allowing Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksha to flourish at the other end.
Prediction
Sri Lanka have struggled against the bigger opponents in Australia and New Zealand in the Super 12s, with their batting especailly found wanting against quality pace.
England have a 9-4 win-loss record against Sri Lanka in T20Is, having won each of their last seven head-to-head encounters. That, the playing conditions and the overall squad strength puts the 2010 champions as the firm favourites for this last Group 1 clash in the Super 12s.
