After four games each, both England and Sri Lanka are among the worst performers of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 with just one win to their credits. The two former world champions find themselves behind Afghanistan -- a relative newcomer at the top stage of the game, and par with the Netherlands -- an associate member.
Both teams have lost crucial players to injury and have suffered humiliating defeats in the tournament. A win in Bengaluru on Wednesday is inexorable to keep their hopes to progress in the tournament, if any, alive.
From pitch report to predicted lineups, here is what you need to know about the high-stake ICC ODI World Cup 2023 clash.
Injury-hit camps: Reece Topley was their top wicket-taker in this tournament with eight wickets. But in a severe blow to England, the pacer was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a fractured index finger. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have lost two players to injuries after four matches captain Dasun Shanaka and young pacer Matheesha Pathirana.
Sri Lanka vs England Weather Forecast: There are no reports of Bengaluru receiving any rainfall on Thursday. The match will take place under sunny weather -- with the temperature expected to be around 30 to 33 Degrees Celcius when the match begins with a 28% humidity. It will drop to around 19 Degrees Celcius at night and the sky is expected to be cloudy, reports suggest.
England vs Sri Lanka Pitch Report: Although the pitch is expected to give equal assistance to bowlers and batters, the toss-winning captain is likely to opt for batting considering the short boundaries. The last match here between Australia and Pakistan produced a combined 672 runs, and the England batters would desperately want to repeat their effort against Bangladesh on October 10 when they mustered 364 for 9 at Dharamsala.
The average first innings score at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the last 20 matches is 251 runs, a NDTV report said. Speedsters have a better record over spinners here, the report added.
All eyes on Lankan bowlers, here's why: Sri Lanka's main headache is their stingless bowling. They have conceded 428 against SA, 345 against Pakistan and 215 in 35.2 overs against Australia.
The Lankan bowlers had reduced the Dutch to 91 for 6, but were generous enough to allow them to reach 262. In that context, they might be worried about offering a fresh lease of life to the misfiring England batters here.
England Playing XI (probable): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (C & WK), Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
Sri Lanka Playing XI (probable): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (C & WK), Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva
Stay tuned to The Week for more updates.
