ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 39: SL vs WI – Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI

The loss in their last game against South Africa has mightily dented Sri Lanka’s chances to move ahead to last 4 in the World Cup 2019. The side has got two games left in the tournament and has got to win both of them. It seems quite tough for the Lankans as they will be facing the likes of Windies and India in their next two matches.

If the Lankans are to put up any kind of competition, it is important for their batsmen to step up. The team cannot expect miracles from their bowlers every time around. The Sri Lanka management has backed a few players but unfortunately, they couldn’t deliver. Thus, they might be a few changes made to the playing eleven.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Sri Lanka

Openers (Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Perera (wk))

There have been a few instances when Dimuth Karunaratne has played out of his skin and brought up some excellent knocks. However, more often than not, he tasted failures in the tournament. In the last game, he bagged a golden duck on the first ball of the innings. Kusal Perera hasn’t been impressive either.

He’s got off to starts but threw it away on most of the occasions. Being the openers, it is important for these two players to be more sensible and get the side off to a good start. If they can lay a good platform early on, the middle order can possibly chip and get help the team achieve a good score or the target.

Middle Order (Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews)

Avishka Fernando has had a couple of outings so far and looked impressive. He played with positive intent and hit some good looking strokes. However, he has never named to capitalise on that and get a big score. It is a must for him to do it at least in the upcoming game. Kusal Mendis will bat at four.

He seemed to have struggled in the last match and the pressure got the better of him. Kusal tried to take his time but couldn’t dig in and get a big score. It was a similar situation with Angelo Mathews as well. There isn’t a great deal of reliable batting to come after them and this troika should take the onus upon themselves to get the big scores.

All Rounders (Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana)

The all-rounders have hardly made any significant contributions during the course of the tournament. Both Dhananjaya de Silva and Thisara Perera have been extremely disappointing and failed to execute the plans well. They have neither done well in the bat nor were consistent with the ball. However, Sri Lanka doesn’t have many other options to look at and will have to persist with them.

Isuru Udana is highly capable with the bat and needs to deliver to his potential. He is a naturally aggressive batsman and should look to play that way. While he has bowled economical spells with the ball, Udana should also look to get amongst the wickets on a consistent basis.

Bowlers (Jeffrey Vandersay, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga)

Sri Lanka might consider replacing Jeevan Mendis, who has wallowed in both the departments of the game. Jeffrey Vandersay should be a good replacement. Suranga Lakmal was extremely expensive in the last match. With Nuwan Pradeep now ruled out of the tournament, he will get a few more opportunities and needs to be more clinical.

Lasith Malinga has been doing a great job for the team. However, he has lacked enough support from the others. The veteran pacer was the only wicket-taker for his team in the last match and should continue the good work.