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Match Details
Date: October 20, 2021
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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Preview:
Sri Lanka will resume their ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in Round 1 clash of the World Event on Wednesday. While the island nation registered a comfortable win over Namibia in their first match, the Irishmen are coming on the back of a win themselves which should set this game up nicely. Sri Lanka won their first match by 7 wickets and even Ireland were dominant in the manner in which they took on Netherlands, also winning by 7 wickets.
Head to head:
Pitch Report: If the matches played at the Zayed Stadium on Tuesday are anything to go by, then the pitch has offered something to the bowlers. This is because both the matches were low-scoring ones and eventually won by the teams batting second. It might be the hint of the pitch easing down a bit in the latter half. Even in the second half of the Indian Premier League, the wicket was not as high-scoring as one that has been seen in the competition in the past. However, the pitch is definitely better than the scores of 106 and 96 which were managed at this wicket in the Round 1 matches played here.
Team Analysis:
Sri Lanka: It was a well-rounded bowling effort from Sri Lanka that saw them register a win over Namibia. While Maheesh Theekshana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka scalping 3 wickets for 25 runs, each of the other four bowlers used also found themselves in wickets. In response, the top order failed as Sri Lanka were 3 down for 26 runs but eventually reached their target comfortably. They would expect a better show from their top order.
Ireland: Yet again it was the bowling that set up the win for Ireland. Curtis Campher entered history books with four wickets in four balls and later remained unbeaten on 7 to finish off the chase. Having said that, at one stage Netherlands were looking good to post more runs than they eventually managed and while Campher had a dream outing in the middle, they would be equally impressed with how Mark Adair and Joshua Little performed. However, in terms of the experience of playing at the big stage, Ireland are far from matching Sri Lanka.
Squads:
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
Conclusion: Picking the higher-ranked former champions Sri Lanka in comparison to Ireland seems to be the logical thing to do at the outset.
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed within this article is the author's personal point of view. They neither reflect the opinion of SportsTiger nor advise anyone to make any prediction based on it. SportsTiger does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.