The woes for Sri Lanka seems to be never ending for them. The massive 168 runs loss at the Colombo didn’t come as a surprise to many. India was meant to be favorites, and they eventually pocketed the result as anticipated.
The recent defeat has only extended the misery for Sri Lanka as it now takes their winless streak to six matches starting from the 4th ODI and 5th ODI which they lost against Zimbabwe to concede a shocking series win to the African nation.
The upcoming game is a must-win game for them as they now stand on the verge suffering a second straight whitewash, after losing the Test series 3-0.
The critical automatic World Cup qualification scenario is also hovering over their head.
Sri Lanka, who are currently ranked eighth, will have to maintain this position till the September 30 deadline. But, West Indies, who are ranked ninth, looking rejuvenated may hamper their chances if they go on to win 5 out of the six scheduled ODIs in the series against Ireland and England in late September.
At the moment, Sri Lanka is slightly ahead, but the unpredictability of West Indies may cause a huge upset for the Lankan fans by the end of this month.
As a preventive measure, Sri Lanka must gather all the confidence and look out to win the upcoming game to not only restore some amount of respect but also to widen the gap with West Indies.
Team News
There is one change expected to happen as Upul Tharanga prepares to come back after a two game ban. His return puts a question over the place of stand in opener Dilshan Munaweera who will sit out most likely. The probability of adjusting the right hander in the middle order seems less as Sri Lanka cannot afford to compromise their bowling attack, although keeping him on the side add more muscle to the batting order.
Malinda Pushpakumara, another debutant, also had a forgettable debut shelling out 65 runs in 9 overs with no returns. This poor performance might lead to Tharanga mull over calling up Chameera, who was rested in the 4th ODI, back in the XI again.
Wanindu Hasaranga faced the harsh reality of bowling against a top class batting line up and looked clueless. He would wish to make more impact.
Predicted XI
Upul Tharanga (C), Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Milinda Siriwardana, Vishwa Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya, Wanidu Hasaranga