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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 38th Match

5Nov

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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 38th Match

Big Picture: Problems to address for both teamsWell, this might not be quite the must-win scenario either of these sides would have been envisioned being involved in towards the tail-end of this tournament, but the ICC's confirmation that the top seven finishers (and hosts Pakistan) will gain qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy has given what would have been a largely inconsequential dead rubber some much needed purpose.Both sides' troubles are well documented. Since their opening game win against Afghanistan, Bangladesh have lost six on the trot. Only England have a worse record, and Bangladesh have lost to them too. For a side that had won 24 of 39 ODIs since the start of 2021 - a 61% win record - this has been the most underwhelming of tournaments, especially in conditions that...

Match Preview – India vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 33rd Match

2Nov

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Match Preview – India vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 33rd Match

Big picture: Two teams with contrasting fortunesIndia. Sri Lanka. The Wankhede. The last time these two teams played an ODI at this venue, the occasion was the 2011 World Cup final. Twelve years later, though, things are a little different.India have lived up to the billing of being the pre-tournament favourites. They have won all of their six matches so far despite missing Shubman Gill for their first two and Hardik Pandya for the last two. If they beat Sri Lanka on Thursday, they will become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.Sri Lanka, who made it to this World Cup via the Qualifier route, are struggling to stay alive. They have just four points from six games and are coming off the back of a loss to Afghanistan. Another defeat will push them to the brink of elimination.Sri ...

Match Preview – England vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 25th Match

25Oct

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Match Preview – England vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 25th Match

Big picture: Stragglers in desperate search for pointsSo, how's that whole "attacking champions" thing working out? Jos Buttler may always regret saying England wouldn't be "trying to defend anything" out in India - a statement that appears to be coming true uncomfortably quickly - but they are not quite at the point of no return, despite only being kept off the bottom of the table by Bangladesh's thumping defeat to South Africa on Tuesday. Cornered lions, anyone?Peeling off five wins in a row in order to reach 12 points - which would include beating the behemoth that is India on their own patch - looks a tall order, even before you account for the trough into which England's ODI form has fallen. But if the miracle resurrection is going to start somewhere then it will have to be in Bengal...

Match Preview – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 19th Match

21Oct

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Match Preview – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 19th Match

Big picture: Netherlands are catching upWhen these two sides met a little over three months ago, the picture could not have been more dissimilar.Sri Lanka had just racked up a clean sweep of the World Cup Qualifier and dispatched the Dutch twice over the course of the tournament. While the first was an edgy affair, the second - a final, though with nothing really riding on it - was as one-sided as most Sri Lanka-Netherlands games have tended to be.In all, these sides have squared off five times in ODIs with Sri Lanka winning all those encounters, including one where the Lankans racked up the then-highest ever ODI total of 443. But despite this lopsided history, it's the Dutch that come into this game with all the momentum.After suffering fairly comprehensive defeats in their opening two m...

Match Preview – Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 8th Match

9Oct

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Match Preview – Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 8th Match

Big pictureIt seems bizarre, given this is a World Cup game, but just three weeks ago Pakistan and Sri Lanka played an ODI that arguably mattered more. They battled it out to the final ball of a knockout match at the Asia Cup, with Sri Lanka stealing the win and booking a berth in the final. Hindsight might cast Tuesday's fixture in Hyderabad to be just as pivotal, but at the moment nothing feels so urgent, so drastic, as everything did in Colombo.Both sides have played one game in this World Cup. Neither made the strongest first impression, but Pakistan have two points, while Sri Lanka have bruises. The mitigating circumstance, of course, is that Pakistan played Netherlands and still looked shaky during certain passages of play, while Sri Lanka took on a South African batting juggernaut,...

Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs India, Asia Cup 2023, 10th Match, Super Four

12Sep

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Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs India, Asia Cup 2023, 10th Match, Super Four

Big picture - India might rotate playersTwo weeks ago in Bengaluru, India's Asia Cup-bound squad had exhaustive fitness tests to check their levels of preparedness for the cricket coming up over the next three months.On Tuesday, those fitness levels will be put to test as India return to the R Premadasa Stadium a little over 12 hours after beating Pakistan in a game that was played over two days because of rain. When they won, they won by a record 228 runs, which has vaulted their net run-rate into orbit, and another win will take them through to Sunday's final.Coming into the tournament, India had several questions to answer.Can Ishan Kishan bat in the middle order if required? He answered it quite emphatically, hitting an 82-ball 81 against Pakistan in Pallekele to open the tournament.S...

Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2023, 1st Test

15Jul

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Match Preview – Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Pakistan in Sri Lanka 2023, 1st Test

Big picture: Sri Lanka start as favouritesOn July 16, Sri Lanka played Pakistan in Galle in the first of two Test matches, with the second Test starting on the 24th, also in Galle. That statement is true for both 2022 and 2023.It's not clear why this series has been set up to perfectly mirror Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka last year, but it provides the opportunity to evaluate each side's progress in the interceding 12 months. Sri Lanka begin as obvious favourites despite mixed results in the past 12 months primarily because of their level of familiarity with conditions; six of the hosts' last eight Test matches have come at this venue, and four of those games have resulted in wins for them. A relatively settled Test side who recognise their best red-ball squad, Sri Lanka went on to challen...