With the first half of the 2023 Cricket World Cup now in the rearview mirror, match 25 of 48 will see England look to keep their qualification hopes alive when they take on Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday morning.
Both sides have lost three of their first four matches in the competition and will need to treat this like a final, with the loser likely to find themselves playing out the remainder of their group-stage matches as a mere formality.
Match preview
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England's hopes in the Cricket World Cup are teetering on edge following a disastrous start to their title defence in India, but there is still time for them to mount a surge for the semi-finals, although it will be a huge task.
Having lost three out of their first four matches, the defending champions find themselves second-bottom of the 10-team table on two points, with only Bangladesh below them due to a worse net run rate.
The Three Lions suffered a heavy defeat to New Zealand in their group opener, and following a solitary win against Bangladesh, England then encountered an unexpected setback with a shocking 69-run loss to Afghanistan.
A humiliating 229-run defeat to South Africa in match four now stands as their record ODI loss by runs and places them on the brink of a group-stage exit, but Jos Buttler's side just about have enough matches to stage a late bid for a spot in the last four.
Winning their remaining five group-stage games would bring England to 12 points, but even then, qualification remains uncertain and dependent on the performance of other teams over the next couple of weeks.
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Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are only just ahead of England in the current standings with a marginally better net run rate, and the equation for them to have a chance of qualification is exactly the same as their opponents.
However, despite facing defeats in this World Cup, Sri Lanka have performed admirably, showcasing solid batting form by surpassing 300 runs on two occasions against South Africa and Pakistan and recording a successful chase of 253 against the plucky Dutch side.
The only match that they failed to impress in was against The Aussies, where they managed to set a target of just 209, which the Baggy Greens chased down with five wickets and almost 15 overs to spare.
The biggest criticism of The Lions' performance in this tournament revolves around their bowling, which has tended to be too loose, particularly against stronger opponents, and this is an aspect that England will likely need to capitalise on.
These sides have met a total of 78 times in ODIs, and the English have a slender lead with 38 wins compared to Sri Lanka's 36, while three matches ended without a result, and one match ended in a tie.
Team News
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Ben Stokes's return to the squad in the last match did not end as he would have hoped, dismissed for just five runs, although the Test captain will be looking for a big innings in the middle order in this one.
Reece Topley should get the new ball again here as he was the pick of the bowlers against the Proteas, and while Mark Wood failed to take a wicket in that match, he did top-score with the bat, smashing 43 off just 17 balls, which might have earned him another start here.
Sri Lanka were given a solid platform in their last match, with Pathum Nissanka scoring his second half-century in succession, and he will almost certainly open the batting with Kusal Perera.
Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis will provide stability in the middle order and are ranked 11th and 14th respectively in the current leading run-scorer standings in the tournament.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
Sri Lanka squad: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Kumara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne
Series so far
England
Match One: England lost by 9 wickets
England - 282/9 (50)
New Zealand - 283/1 (36.2)
Match Two: England won by 137 runs
England - 364/9 (50)
Bangladesh - 227 (48.2)
Match Three: England lost by 69 runs
Afghanistan - 284 (49.5)
England - 215 (40.3)
Match Four: England lost by 229 runs
South Africa - 399/7 (50)
England - 170 (22)
Sri Lanka
Match One - Sri Lanka lost by 102 runs
South Africa - 428/5 (50)
Sri Lanka - 326 (44.5)
Match Two: Sri Lanka lost by 6 wickets
Sri Lanka - 344/9 (50)
Pakistan - 345/4 (48.2)
Match Three: Sri Lanka lost by 5 wickets
Sri Lanka - 209 (43.3)
Australia - 215/5 (35.2)
Match Four: Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets
Netherlands - 262 (49.4)
Sri Lanka - 263/5 (48.2)
We say: England to win
Both sides are staring down the possibility of a premature exit from the tournament and need the win here to realistically keep their hopes of qualification alive. Undoubtedly, England have the talent to win this match, and against the Sri Lankan bowling unit, we expect this to be the match that the English battling lineup finally shows what they are capable of.
Devesh Jaganath
