The cricket fraternity is gearing up for an exciting clash on Tuesday as the Pakistan cricket team will be taking on Sri Lanka in Hyderabad on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. It will be a match to watch out for as Pakistan will be hoping to take revenge on Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup 2023 elimination.
The Men in Green were all set to make it to the finals of the marquee event but a loss against the island nation by two wickets resulted in them getting ruled out from the Super 4 stage. Speaking of the World Cup 2023, Pakistan enjoyed a relatively easy start as they defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs to be third in the points table.
In their first game, Babar Azam’s men displayed a balanced performance as all the batters, bowlers and all-rounders stepped up to take the team home. However, the same was not the case for Sri Lanka. They recorded one of their worst defeats in the recent past as South Africa hammered them by 102 runs.
With the net run rate in negative, the island nation is occupying the second-last place in the standings just before the England team. Also, they are struggling with injury concerns as two of their players including the likes of pace sensation Dushmantha Chameera and spin wizard Wanindu Hasaranga are almost ruled out.
Notably, the two teams will come with different agendas on Tuesday as Sri Lanka will hope to change their fortunes and record their first win while Pakistan will be eager to register its second consecutive victory in the tournament.
What has happened so far?
So far in the 2023 edition of the ICC World Cup, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have enjoyed contrasting performances. The Pakistan cricket team lost both of its warm-up matches against New Zealand and Australia by five wickets and 14 runs respectively. However, they did not carry forward their losing streak and defeated the Netherlands in their first World Cup match.
Everything worked in the favor of the team as playing in Hyderabad, they racked up a score of 286 runs in the first innings. Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel scored 68 runs each for the side while Haris Rauf was the top bowler as he scalped three wickets to restrict the Netherlands to a score of 205 runs.
The 81-run win resulted in Shakeel taking home the Player of the Match award. Just like Pakistan, Sri Lanka also lost their two warm-up games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan by seven and six wickets respectively. However, they failed to bring a change to their fortunes and lost their first World Cup match and lost by a massive margin of 102 runs.
It was a poor performance by the bowlers as batting in the first innings South Africa managed to score a whopping 428 runs in 50 overs. Though Sri Lankan batters tried hard, they ended up collapsing at a score of 326 runs in 44.5 overs.
Head to Head Record
Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy a rich history against each other, especially in the One Day Internationals. The two teams have faced each other a total of 155 times in the ODI format and unsurprisingly, Pakistan is the one leading in the records.
They have recorded a win in a total of 92 matches while Sri Lanka has managed to emerge victorious on 58 occasions.
Key Players
Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan): The Pakistan cricket team will be hoping for their veteran wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan to step up and take the team to the finish line on Tuesday. Rizwan was in good form in the first game against the Netherlands as he hammered 68 runs off 75 balls.
He was the man alongside Saul Shakeel to help the Men in Green post a good score of 286 runs in their allotted 50 overs.
Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka succumbed to a disappointing performance in their opening match of the World Cup 2023 as they recorded a defeat by a massive 102 runs. However, Kusal Mendis was the only saving grace for his team apart from Charith Asalanka.
Kusal Mendis has been the wrecker-in-chief for Sri Lanka in the past few months
The wicketkeeper-batter defied the odds and ended up posting a score of 76 runs to be the second-highest run-getter for Sri Lanka and help them emerge from the two early wickets in the form of Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera. The odds are in the favor of the batter to replicate his fine performance on Tuesday as well.
Predicted XIs
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam ©, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka ©, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka, Kasun Rajitha
Prediction
Both teams have had their share of highs and lows in the past few months, however, the chances of Pakistan emerging as a winner are high.
The Men in Green will be riding on confidence as they hammered the Netherlands in their opening game by 81 runs while Sri Lanka scored a loss against South Africa by a massive 102 runs.