Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat against England in a crucial Group 1, Super-12 encounter at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
England would be looking to register a win against the Asia Champions to secure a place in the semi-finals. A loss will see them flying back to the United Kingdom. Sri Lanka on the other hand will look to live up to their tag of being the Asian Champions after having blown hot and cold throughout the tournament.
“We are going to bat first. It’s a used wicket, last 7 games were won by teams batting first. We have one change, Karunaratne is in for Madushan. It’s an important game for us, we want to carry the pride for us. Hope we’ll get some turn,” said Dasun Shanaka after winning the toss.
Jos Buttler expressed that he would have also liked to bat first had he won the toss and also informed about the playing eleven for the match.
“It’s a used wicket, we need to play well, we need to play our best cricket. Would have batted first as well. We need to adapt to the conditions quickly, we have plenty of options with seam and spin. We are going in with the same team,” Jos Buttler said during the toss.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha
England (Playing XI): Alex Hales, Jos Buttler(w/c), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood (ANI)
