Friday's game in the 2019 ICC World Cup at Leeds will see two sides with contrasting campaigns thus far take on each other, in England and Sri Lanka. While the hosts have been brilliant until now, losing just once in a close match against Pakistan, the Lankan Lions have been faltering with just one win so far which came against bottom team Afghanistan.
A record-breaking century by captain Eoin Morgan helped the hosts get a comprehensive win over Gulbadin Naib's team earlier this week. Their batting has been firing on all cylinders, having managed to score north of 300 in all matches they have opted to bat. Joe Root has been splendid as well, getting two tons so far in five games. Their bowling too has been good, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood hitting theirs marks consistently, although the former has proved expensive at times.
Sri Lanka's top three of Dimtuh Karunaratne, Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis have had a good tournament thus, with the openers getting a century stand in their previous game against Australia. However, the rest of the team has been struggling to contribute much to the team, having batting collapses very often due to Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera's dismal form.
Even their bowling unit has failed to live up to their billing, conceding 334 runs in their previous game. The likes of Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep would be expected to have good games on Friday if the Lankan Lions are to stage an upset.
Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar
