England starts their limited-overs summer at home against Sri Lanka with 3T20Is followed by 3 ODIs which will be further followed by Pakistan arriving in the United Kingdom to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20s as well.
The first T20I between England and Sri Lanka will be played at the Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground in Cardiff.
Whilst England is coming off on the back of a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in a 2-match test series, the Lankans are trying to shake off a 2-1 loss to Bangladesh in a 3-match ODI series. Moreover, the Sri Lanka players and the cricket board were also in a mini-battle of their own regarding the new central contracts announced but the problems have been sorted reportedly ahead of an important tour to the United Kingdom.
Full Squads
England head coach Chris Silverwood has picked a 16-member squad and will welcome back Chris Woakes and David Willey to the shortest format of the game after six and two years respectively. Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and Reece Topley weren’t considered for the series since they are still nursing injuries picked before the start of the cricketing summer in England.
Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka has picked a 24-member squad led by skipper Kusal Perera who will be leading the Lankans for the first time outside the Indian subcontinent. Nuwan Pradeep makes a return to the limited-overs squad but few experienced players like Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Dimuth Karunaratne have been left out of the touring party.
Squad: Kusal Perera (c), Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Oshada Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama
Head to Head Record
Morgan and Ben Stokes after chasing down a target against Sri Lanka
England and Sri Lanka had their first meeting in the shortest format of the game back in June 2006. Since then, the two teams have only met on nine occasions in T20Is and this is the first time the two teams have agreed to play a bilateral T20I series.
England holds a slight edge in the head-to-head record over the Lankans as they have won 5 of the 9 matches compared to Sri Lanka’s 4. Sri Lanka won 3 of the first 4 matches between the two teams but the English have dominated the recent matches by winning 4 of those 5 matches.
Form Guide
England: L/L/W/L/W/W/W
After clean-sweeping South Africa in the 2-match T20I series away from home, the Three Lions traveled to India on a long tour that involved 5 T20Is. England started the series well, winning two of the first 3 T20Is but a comeback from India in the last two matches saw Morgan’s team lose the 5-match series.
Sri Lanka: L/W/L/L/L/L/L
On the other hand, Sri Lanka has lost six of their last seven T20Is fixtures with the only win coming against West Indies courtesy of a Wanindu Hasaranga masterclass. The Lankan Lions lost a 3-match T20I series in West Indies by a margin of 2-1 in March 2021.
Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic halted the whole world, Sri Lanka hosted the West Indies for a 2-match T20I series and was embarrassingly clean swept at home by the Caribbean side. Sri Lanka was also outclassed by India as they lost both the T20Is that were played between the two teams in January 2020.
Predicted XIs
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, David Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan ©, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka: Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera ©, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera
Prediction
England team is welcoming back Bairstow, Buttler, and Ali after resting the trio for the test series against the Black Caps earlier in June. An almost full-strength English team is expected to clean sweep the Sri Lankan challenge at home and that can begin with a win at the Cardiff Stadium on Wednesday as per Parimatch’s prediction.