Tigers to battle SL as well as weather

Sports Desk: Bangladesh will look to return to winning ways when they take on Sri Lanka in ICC World Cup 2019 encounter today (Tuesday).

After starting their campaign with a victory over South Africa, Bangladesh went down to New Zealand in a thriller before losing convincingly against hosts England.

Bowling form of skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will worry the Bangla Tigers but they will be pleased with the way Shakib-Al-Hasan is contributing with both bat and ball. Mohammad Saifuddin has been effective in the death overs but will want more from Mustafizur Rahman who had an off day against England.

The batsmen have been scoring runs but it’s the bowlers who haven’t been able to back them. They leaked 386 runs against England. The dependence on spinners has meant that Bangladesh have struggled when the conditions have been cloudy or the pitch doesn’t have much to offer for their tweakers.

Sri Lanka meanwhile have three points from three games after a washout against Pakistan and a victory against Afghanistan.

Dimuth Karunaratne has led from the front and delivered with the bat for the team, however lack of support and application from other batsmen has hurt Sri Lanka.

Nuwan Pradeep – who has been Sri Lanka’s leading wicket-taker - will miss the game due to a finger injury he picked in training. Lasith Malinga has done well to spearhead the bowling but whether the 35-year-old can carry on in the same vein throughout the tournament is something that remains to be seen.

This is a crucial match for both the teams but the forecast in Bristol doesn't look great. Sri Lanka's last game against Pakistan here was also washed out without a ball being bowled.

Squads

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Abu Jayed, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.


risingbd/June 11, 2019/Mukul