Kusal Mendis: Pitch is good and we were looking to bat first as well. I am enjoying the captaincy.
England have won the toss and have opted to bat
Jos Buttler: We are going to bat first. Looks a good wicket, little bit drier but we will look to put up a good score. We have been short of our best.
England have won the toss and have opted to bat
We are ready for the toss. The two captains are out there. Buttler will spin. Tail is the call. Heads it is..
Pitch and Conditions: "Pitch no. 8 today. Pitch no. 9 had over 650 runs scored in the game between Australia and Pakistan. This might be a little bit drier, a little bit on the slower side but on the surface it is a good track where the ball will come on to the bat. The dimensions remain the same; 73 straight, 53 behind, 61 and 67 on the side," informs Ravi Shastri. "It is a very interesting pitch, there's a lot of grass in the center of the pitch, but see where it is (while standing in batters position), it is devoid of grass. Batting against spin for left-handers will be interesting. This is the kind of pitch where you need to have a right-left combination because the pitch will play differently on both sides. There will be a bit of turn and that's because of the dry surface, it is like a honeycomb. IT is going to be a challenge for batting," reckons Dinesh Karthik.
England lost consecutive games in their 2019 WC winning campaign as well and one of those defeats was to Sri Lanka. They turned it around after those losses and went on an unbeaten run to claim the trophy and Jos Buttler would hope for the same. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will hope their four match winning run against England in World Cups continues, they haven't lost since 1999 even though England hold the edge 6-5 in the competition.
The problem for these two teams have been quite similar. The batting has clicked but it is their respective bowling attacks that has looked ordinary. England picked only one wicket against New Zealand, conceded 280+ to Afghanistan and South Africa hammered them for a massive 399. Sri Lanka were also smashed for 400+ by South Africa, while Pakistan chased down 345 and Netherlands got away from 91/6 to post 262. And it is not going to get any easier as today's venue is no friend of the bowlers. Which bowling line-up will come out on top today? Toss and teams coming up..
13:00 Local Time, 07:30 GMT: Australia finally stamped their authority on the tournament with a proper thrashing of Netherlands last night. At the start of last week they were at the bottom of the table with two defeats in their first two games and now are in fourth place with three wins on the bounce. England, though they may not like it, need to take inspiration from their Ashes rivals and revive their campaign. It has not been the best of starts for the defending champions and it is not the three losses but the manner of those defeats is what's worrying. Today presents them another chance to turn things around as they take on Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Hello and welcome..
Preview by Prakash Govindasreenivasan
Only three days ago, England were extremely delighted to have got out of Mumbai. The weather there was unforgiving, their opponents South Africa, devastating. Bengaluru offers a cool respite to anyone arriving from the coastal city but the heat is still on for Jos Buttler's side. They've already lost as many games as they did in the entirety of their title-winning campaign in 2019, and their defence of it is on the brink of disintegration just past the midway point of this edition.
Sri Lanka have reached Bengaluru from Lucknow - another city that tests your endurance levels on even a mildly hot day - but the mood in that camp is perhaps a lot less tense. They too have only one win, but that's their latest result which they'd hope to use as a springboard for the rest of the campaign.
England might not have the time or bandwidth to draw any inference from history, even as it states that Sri Lanka have been unbeatable for them in the last four editions of the men's 50-over World Cup. Within the confines of the Sri Lankan dressing room, that could be the motivating tool for a squad that has done well in patches in this edition.
The two struggling bottom-half sides, separated only by the decimal point variance of their Net Run Rate, meet on the edge of the World Cup cliff with the hope of clinging on by pushing the other towards the abyss.
When: England vs Sri Lanka, ODI World Cup 2023, October 26, 2:00 PM Local
Where: Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru
What to expect: As always, a flat wicket and scope for big runs. The only other World Cup 2023 game at this venue produced an opening stand of 259 and a first-innings total of 367/9. As for the weather, a pleasant evening is on the cards in Bengaluru.
Team Watch:
England
Another World Cup has cruelly come to an end due to injury for Reece Topley. England have roped in Brydon Carse as his replacement.
England dropped all their allrounders in the previous game, but didn't get the result they desired. Moeen Ali admitted the change of plan didn't work, and that he wouldn't be surprised if England reverted to type. That could mean a spot in the XI again for the vice-captain as well as the likes of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.
Tactics & Strategy
Another admission from the England camp after the humbling in Wankhede at the hands of South Africa was that they should've batted first after winning the toss. Relying on their strength to post a big score and defend it should be the way to go for the rest of the tournament for Buttler's side. Along with picking up the points on offer, England also desperately need to repair their abysmal NRR.
In that endeavour, they might want to improve their death-overs batting numbers. In the two games they batted first, they scored just 58/3 (vs New Zealand) and 66/6 (vs Bangladesh) in the last 10 overs.
Probable XI: Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook/Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler (c & wk), David Willey/Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes/Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews, who batted and bowled in the lead-up to the game, is officially part of Sri Lanka's 15, coming in as a replacement for the injured Matheesha Pathirana.
Sri Lanka are likely to bring the former captain into the XI straightaway, in place of Chamika Karunaratne. If Dunith Wellalage is fit, he should reclaim his spot from Dushan Hemantha.
Tactics & Strategy
Sri Lanka have played on two pristine batting strips so far and have done well with the bat there - 326 against South Africa in Delhi and 344/9 against Pakistan in Hyderabad. But they picked no points as their depleted bowling attack suffered at both venues. Thursday's game at Chinnaswamy will pose a similar test for Sri Lanka's bowlers, but hand them a chance to right two previous wrongs.
Left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka has been immensely impressive so far, and should ruffle a few feathers early against an England side that has made three shaky starts in four outings.
- The last time England beat Sri Lanka in a 50-over men's World Cup was in the opener of the 1999 edition at Lord's.
- The returning Angelo Mathews was Sri Lanka's best batter in their win over England in Leeds in the 2019 World Cup
What they said:
"We're obviously disappointed with the [South Africa] result and not just the result but the way we played, but, in the competition, you've got to move on as quick as you can and regroup. Everything is a must-win and we know we've been in this position before, probably not to this degree, but we know everything is a must-win and we have to get our confidence and perform well, and bat and bowl and field better than we have done so far in this tournament." - Moeen Ali
England Squad: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), David Willey, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran
England
Sri Lanka
