England and Sri Lanka will meet on 24 June, in the second of the three-match T20I series at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Eoin Morgan’s men have taken a 1-0 lead with an eight-wicket win in the first match.
England bowlers were on a roll in the first T20I. They restricted the inexperienced Sri Lankan batters to 129/7 after Kusal Perera opted to bat. Coming at No. 6, Dasun Shanaka top-scored with a 44-ball 50 before he fell to Sam Curran in the penultimate over. The visitors only managed to hit seven fours and three sixes in their entire innings.
Adil Rashid (2-17) and Sam Curran (2-25) claimed two wickets each, while Mark Wood (1-33), Chris Jordan (1-29) and Liam Livingstone (1-9) had one each to their names. Chris Woakes, on T20I return after six years, was impressive as well in his three overs (0-14) but remained wicketless.
England are arguably the strongest side in limited-overs cricket since the past couple of years, mainly because of their explosive batters. Coming at the chase, the pair of Jason Roy (36 in 22 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (68* in 55) showed urgency and smashed an 85-run opening stand to take the game away from Sri Lanka early.
Buttler then anchored the innings before England chased the target down with 17 balls to spare. Despite remaining wicketless, Wanindu Hasaranga returned impressive figures of 4-0-12-0.
Head to Head
England have played Sri Lanka 10 times in T20Is. They have won six and lost four.
Probable XIs
England: Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (c), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka: Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera (c & wk), Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Dushmantha Chameera, Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Pradeep
Prediction:
England to win the contest and seal the series.