Dasun Shanaka made runs against New Zealand. In order for England to advance to the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup, they will need to win their match against Sri Lanka on Saturday morning. Richard Mann provides a preview of the upcoming action.
Tips for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and England
2pts Dasun Shanaka top Sri Lanka batsman at 10/1 (General)
After Australia plays Afghanistan in Adelaide on Friday, the complexion of this matchup will change to some degree. It is highly likely that the Net Run-Rate will determine who finishes second behind New Zealand in Group 1 and advances to the semi-finals.
At the time of this writing, England are in the driver’s seat, but you shouldn’t completely rule out the possibility of Australia beating Afghanistan by a large margin – and it would have to be a significant win – and at the very least putting some additional pressure on Jos Buttler’s side.
It is more likely that England will only need to win their final match in order to advance to the semifinals. This is something that they should have no problem accomplishing against a Sri Lanka team that has performed well in Australia despite not appearing to have the power necessary to advance much further in the competition.
After a successful opening partnership against New Zealand, Dawid Malan was demoted in the batting order as a result of the possibility that England will need to complete a quick run chase. This makes it more difficult to place a bet on who will be England’s best batsman.
This did not make much sense to me, especially considering that players like Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, and Ben Stokes once again were unable to contribute any more impetus than Malan would have had. In point of fact, England’s momentum slowed down after the order change, which was a potentially fatal mistake that almost cost them the match.
It is important to keep in mind that Malan is currently England’s highest-ranked batsman in Twenty20 Internationals.
It is not the only strange tactical move that England’s new white-ball leadership group has made in recent months; Ben Stokes batting at four when he is obviously struggling for form is another example, as is recent T20 game-time.
All of that means that I can’t even consider placing a bet in that market, and Sam Curran is a more reliable option for top England bowler given his impressive performances in Australia up to this point.
In contrast to DASUN SHANAKA, who is a huge price at 10/1 to be the top batsman for Sri Lanka, I can ignore him at his current odds of 3/1.
Shanaka is a fantastic player in the middle order; however, due to the fact that he typically bats at number six, it is important to choose when and how to follow him. When the circumstances are favorable, however, it is well worth it to do so.
These kinds of situations typically arise when Sri Lanka are considered to be strong second favorites and face an opponent who possesses a potent pace attack that has the potential to cause early casualties. As a result, Shanaka has to come into the game early with a repair job that needs to be carried out by the captain.
That is exactly what took place the weekend before last when his score of 36 was enough to put him on top of the scoring charts in Sri Lanka’s crushing loss to New Zealand. He has also accomplished this feat in matches against Australia, Bangladesh, and India on multiple occasions in the past year.
With a spot in the final four on the line for England, you can anticipate that they will be looking to take early wickets in this match, which is something that should bring Shanaka right back into the mix.
The odds of 10 to 1 are much too high to be disregarded.