This article will talk about the probable XIs for both teams and continue with the Dream11 predictions and the winning fantasy team for the first match of the three-match T20I matches between England and Sri Lanka that is scheduled to take place on the 23rd of June 2021.
Sri Lanka will tour England after a long gap of 5 years as they will play a limited-overs series against the top-ranked side in the world. They played their last series against Bangladesh where they lost a three-match ODI series by 2-1. The Sri Lankan cricket board picked a contrasting T20I squad compared to the last series against the West Indies. Kusal Perera was recently named as limited-overs captain for Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, England announced a full-fledged T20I squad of 16 members. Chris Woakes and David Willey are making their comeback into England’s T20I squad as they missed the last series against India. However, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer didn’t make it into the squad due to injuries. England is very consistent in this shortest format as they lost just two series out of their last 8 T20I series. They will look to continue their winning streak in this series as well.
Match Details
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Pitch and Weather: It will be a typical T20 pitch at Cardiff as batsmen will enjoy batting throughout the match. It will be a high-scoring encounter as both teams have stroke-makers in their team. The weather should be clear throughout the match as there will be no interruptions due to weather conditions.
Date and time: June 23, 2021, 6 PM Local, 10.30 PM IST
The Probable Playing XIs
England will play with a full-fledged XI in this match. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler will open for England. Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Sam Curran will play as pacers. Moeen Ali will play as an all-rounder.
Kusal Perera and Gunathilaka will play as Sri Lanka openers. Hasaranga will play as an all-rounder. Chameera and Pradeep will play as pace bowlers for the Lankan side.
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan(c), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (c&wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Oshada Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep
Match Prediction
England will start as favorites in this first match of the series against Sri Lanka. They have a very good record at Cardiff as England is yet to lose a single T20I match. Sri Lanka will need to play extraordinary cricket to beat this number one ranked side at home.
Fantasy Tips
Batsmen: Jason Roy will be a pick option from the batting section. He will open for England in this match. He scored 144 runs in the last T20I series. Dawid Malan will be an important player for England. He is the number one ranked batsman in the world. Danushka Gunathilaka will be the main player from the Sri Lanka team. He will play as an opener for Sri Lanka.
Wicket-Keeper: Jos Buttler is arguably one of the best white-ball batsmen in the world. He will open for England and he will be the best pick for the captaincy choice in the fantasy team. Jonny Bairstow will be another good pick from the wicket-keeping section. He is in the enormous form in T20 cricket. Kusal Perera will open for Sri Lanka and the skipper scored a hundred in the last ODI against Bangladesh.
All-Rounders: Sam Curran will play at number 7 and will bowl in the powerplay for England. Wanindu Hasaranga is another quality all-rounder to be picked.
Bowlers: Mark Wood and Chris Woakes will be the main bowlers from the England team. Chris Woakes can provide late hitting in the lower order. Dushmantha Chameera will be the main bowler to be picked from the Sri Lanka team.
Captaincy choices
Team for fantasy: Buttler(c), Bairstow, Perera, Malan, Roy, Gunathilaka, Curran(VC), Hasaranga, Jordan, Wood, Chameera
Captain– Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler is a class act at the top of the order in the T20s. So he can be made skipper of the fantasy team.
Vice-Captain– Sam Curran
Sam Curran will be a really good all-rounder to be picked as vice-captain in the fantasy side.
Dream11 Team
