Sri Lanka have much to be worried about as Ireland look to flex their muscles again
Big picture
On top of all these reasons for Sri Lanka to be wary, here’s another: Ireland are coached by Graham Ford, who had been Sri Lanka’s coach until mid-2017. Though, such has been the rate of turnover in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs teams, the only players in this current squad Ford would have worked with extensively are the likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Kumara, and Dushmantha Chameera (who has grown into a much better bowler since then).
Form guide
Completed matches, most recent first
Ireland WLLWL
Sri Lanka WLLLW
In the spotlight
Pitch and conditions
Temperatures are expected to hover around the low 30-degrees Celsius range again. No rain is expected, but there has been dew on the ground, particularly in the second innings.
Team news
Sri Lanka’s top three have not been at their best, and there might be a temptation to throw in Charith Asalanka, who had played some good T20 innings over the past few months, but Mickey Arthur they will stick with the same top three for this match.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Lahiru Kumara
Ireland are likely to stick with the XI that took down Netherlands.
Ireland (possible): 1 Paul Stirling, 2 Kevin O’Brien, 3 Andy Balbirnie (capt), 4 Gareth Delany, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 Harry Tector, 7 Neil Rock (wk), 8 Simi Singh, 9 Mark Adair, 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben White
Stats and trivia
Quotes
“Chandi is a little short of confidence at the moment. We had a practice match among ourselves before we came over, when he hit 84 off 48. He’s a fine batsman. We haven’t got a particularly experienced top five, and the thing that gets him in there is his experience. We’ll give Chandi another run. I’m comfortable that Chandi is in there, and I’m comfortable Chandi is one innings from showing us what he can do.”
Mickey Arthur expects the senior batter to come good.
“Gareth’s peaking at the right time. He played a brilliant innings against Bangladesh, and he took his form into the match against Netherlands. He’s doing exactly what we want from him – he’s taking the attack to the bowlers.”
Andy Balbirnie wants the in-form batter to carry on the good work.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
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