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26-Mar-2014 16:38:00 GMT
England v Sri Lanka, World T20, Group 1, Chittagong

England Face Uphill Task Against Sri Lanka

Chittagong - Their campaign opener against New Zealand spoilt by rain, 2010 champions England face a difficult task of taming table-toppers Sri Lanka to keep their semifinal hopes alive in the ICC World Twenty20 on Wednesday.

England were left ruing the weather after their effort of posting 172/6 went in vain and they lost by nine runs to New Zealand via Duckworth-Lewis method last Saturday.

In fact, England players were left disappointed following the umpires' decision to keep the teams on the field even though lightning and thunder claps had started early in the fifth over during New Zealand's run chase at the ZACS Stadium.

After the match, skipper Stuart Broad minced no words and his criticism of the umpires' decision prompted the ICC to fine 15 per cent of his match fee.

However, all these are in the past now and England will have to put the disappointment behind and focus on a strategy to outwit Sri Lanka, who have been simply unstoppable in the tournament so far.

Dinesh Chandimal's men notched up convincing victories against the Netherlands and South Africa in their last two matches to sit at the top of the table with four points and they would look for an encore against England tomorrow.

For England, the months leading up to the tournament have been marked by an embarrassing loss to Australia in the Ashes and Broad's men will have to play out of their skin to salvage any hope of a turnaround in their fortune in the tournament.

England, however, have reasons to feel confident as most of their top and middle-order batsmen clicked in the last match with Moeen Ali and Michael Lumb sharing a 72-run stand for the second wicket and Jos Buttler and Ravi Bopara too chipping in with cameos to power the team to 172 for six.

However, their bowling has not been tested as they could bowl only five overs against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have no such concerns. Medium pacer Angelo Methews and spinner Ajanta Mendis have taken four wickets each, while Lasith Malinga have three scalps to his name in the tournament so far.

It was their bowlers, who first successfully defended their total of 165 against South Africa and then run through the Netherlands, dismissing them for just 39 at the same venue last Monday and Chandimal will expect his bowlers to continue their good show tomorrow.

Teams from

England -
Stuart Broad (Capt.), Michael Lumb, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler (wk), Ravi Bopara, Chris Jordan, Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach.

Sri Lanka -  Dinesh Chandimal (capt.), Kushal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajanta Mendis, Lasith Malinga.

Stats and trivia

  • England have lost three T20s against Sri Lanka and won one - the 2010 World T20 semi-final.
  • Eoin Morgan needs six runs to score 1000 T20 runs - he would be the second England batsman to reach that milestone after Kevin Pietersen.

Match facts
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)


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