Deadline: July 28, 2019 at 2:30 PM IST
Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Pitch and conditions
Sri Lanka posted 314 for 8 in the first game at Colombo. The pitch was hard, producing even bounce. Although only 3 of the 18 wickets belonged to the spinners, the pitch will favour them as the series progresses — all matches have been scheduled at the same venue.
Predictions
Captains will look to bat first. The average second innings score here reads 194, suggesting that runs are difficult to come by towards the end. Add as many batsmen from the team batting first.
Probable XI for Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha/Isuru Udana
Probable XI for Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal (c), Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ names to get the data while making your fantasy team.
My 11: Kusal Perera (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne/Angelo Mathews, Sabbir Rahman, Dhananjaya de Silva, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman (vc), Shaiful Islam, Nuwan Pradeep
Preview
Tamim Iqbal pitted Mehidy Hasan Miraz against Kusal Perera early into the innings, planning to take the pace off the ball and catch Perera in spin. Nothing of that sort happened. Perera’s counterattack forced Tamim to take the first slip off.
After a few sweeps, Miraz decided to bowl outside the off-stump. Perera, in no mood to defend, made room and scythed them between the fielders. Tamim tried many bowling combinations and fielding strategies. Perera rubbished everything and eventually reached his fifth ODI hundred.
To put things into perspective, Bangladesh failed to maintain the right length. They either bowled on Perera’s pads or away from his body. The moment they bowled in the corridor of uncertainty Perera struggled to fetch runs.
To make matters worse, Bangladesh lost Tamim Iqbal in the very first over. He fell to the genius of Lasith Malinga. Tamim will be relieved that Sri Lanka will play without their strike bowler for the last two matches, that they still have a chance to win the series.
Mushfiqur Rahim continued his rich vein of form, collecting yet another fifty. Had he got enough support, Bangladesh might as well have won the match. They did it against West Indies in the 2019 World Cup, chasing down a target of over 300 runs. However, they had Shakib Al Hasan then. In the absence of Shakib, Mahmudullah will have to raise the bar.
Mustafizur Rahman was among wickets, but he yet again conceded runs at an unreasonable rate. Not to blame him that he bowls in the death, when the batsmen have to go at him hard. That being said, he has to find a way to keep a lid on the runs.
