In the 15th match of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Bangladesh will be up against Sri Lanka at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, the United States of America.
Given that they are placed in the group of death where South Africa are favorites to qualify for Super 8, leaving only one more slot for the other contenders, this will be an important match for both Asian teams.
For Bangladesh, this will be the first match of the tournament after a long resting phase since their warm-up match against India, which was played on 1st June. Meanwhile, this will be the second match for Sri Lanka and they will be eyeing a strong comeback, after losing the first match against South Africa by 6 wickets.
What has happened so far?
Bangladesh will be starting their journey in this tournament after losing a warm-up match against India, which was played in New York. Bowling first, the Bangla Tigers conceded 182 runs in that match and could score only 122/9 in response.
T20I cricket has always been a weakness for the Tigers, which was recently exposed again by the USA team. Coming to America two weeks before their first match as a preparatory measure, Bangladesh lost the series against the USA by a 2-1 margin.
Before arriving in the States, they took on Zimbabwe in a five-match series. Despite playing on their home soil, where they always tend to do well, Bangladesh still ended up losing the last match wrapping up the series 4-1.
Sri Lanka is not in a better position either, as their shortcomings were also brutally exposed by South Africa in their last match. Batting first, the Lankans were cleaned up for just 77 runs, before the Proteas chased the target at the loss of four wickets.
Batting has been a big area of concern for the Lankans in recent times. In their first warm-up match against the Netherlands, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 161 runs while chasing a target of 182 runs. Then in their second match against a comparatively much weaker Ireland team, they could only score 163 runs.
Head to Head Record
The rivalry between these two teams is a new inclusion in cricket and an exciting inclusion too. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have met 16 times in T20I cricket where the Lankans have won 11 matches and the Tigers have won 5 matches.
The last match saw Sri Lanka getting a comfortable 28-run win, although the match was played at Sylhet in Bangladesh. Batting first, Kusal Mendis’ 86 helped the Lions score 174 in that game in March, while Nuwan Thusara’s fifer bowled Bangladesh out for just 146 runs.
Key Players
Mahmudullah (Bangladesh): At a time when nearly all of their top-order batters are struggling, including captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das, Bangladesh will be hoping that a 38-year-old Mahmudullah will be their saviour once again in this tournament.
The signs were visible in the warm-up match against India, where Mahmudullah was by far the Tigers’ best batter, scoring 40 runs in 28 balls. He has all the experience of the world, having played 131 T20Is where he has scored 2299 runs and picked up 39 wickets.
His recent form is promising too, as he scored a half-century in that series against Zimbabwe and got a quickfire 33 in a match against the USA. Moreover, he has great numbers against Sri Lanka. In 15 T20I matches against the Lions, Mahmudullah has scored 352 runs at an average of 35+ and a strike rate of nearly 150 and has also picked up 7 wickets.
Sri Lanka will need their captain Wanindu Hasaranga to lead from the front
Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka): If they are to do well in this match, Sri Lanka will be reliant on their skipper Wanindu Hasaranga to lead from the front. Returning from an injury, Hasaranga was the Lankans’ best bowler in the match against South Africa, picking up the wickets of Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs.
In 66 T20Is, Hasaranga has picked up 106 wickets with his cunning leg-spin, with an economy rate of less than 7 runs per over. If needed, he can also produce the goods with the bat. The 26-year-old has scored 650 runs in this format at a strike rate of 130. He has two T20I half-centuries to his name.
Predicted XIs
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto ©, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga ©, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara.
Prediction
Although neither team has performed well in this format of the game recently, Sri Lanka can still be considered as favorites, only because they have more players who can prove to be match-winners on their day, in the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana and Kusal Mendis.