After a 87-run defeat against Australia, the struggling Sri Lanka side will face off against the tournament favourites England on Friday. The side led by Dimuth Karunaratne are desperate for a win, being placed in the bottom half of the table.
Against the Aussies, Sri Lanka’s top order was brilliant, but was not supported by the middle-order which collapsed in 335-run chase. But there are little to no options for Sri Lanka going into the fixture to fix the batting order, so Sri Lanka would likely make a few tweaks in the bowling department.
Nuwan Pradeep, who just recovered from an injury was hammered for 88 runs in his 10 overs by the Aussies. Sri Lanka could look to bring back Suranga Lakmal in his stead, who has the ability to trouble the opening batsmen with pace and bounce.
Here is Sri Lanka’s predicted Xi against England:
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Thisara Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal