We have another all-Asian battle in the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday as the competition returns to Bristol hoping to avoid the rain which washed out the last match that was scheduled on the ground when Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka.
Both sides have a win and a couple of matches without a victory to their name in the tournament thus far so it is vital for the pair of them that they get on the park and get the two points out of this all-important showdown.
AllSportsBetting Podcast
After a well thought out winner from Steve on Monday, he and Kev reflect on what we might see when Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka at Bristol. They have four bets between them. Click play on the video below to hear their thoughts.
Bangladesh
The tournament could barely have started any better for Bangladesh when they dominated South Africa from start to finish but after pushing New Zealand all the way in their second outing, they were given a bit of a lesson against England in their latest match. That leaves them really needing to find a victory here to get back into the mix of those pushing for the semi-final spots. They showed in the Asia Cup last year that they are more than capable of achieving that.
If they are going to get back on track they need to avoid a repeat of the bowling and fielding effort that they put out against England. They don’t face anything like as strong a batting line up which should help them here. Masrafe Mortaza needs to utilise his options a little better. The good thing was for the first 30 overs or so with the bat they had a good innings going against England so there is no need to change anything on that front.
Sri Lanka
If you look at their record of a win, a loss and a washout you would think there is little cause for concern for Sri Lanka but when you then look at their performances in their two completed matches the case is very much for the opposite. They have batted poorly on two occasions and had Afghanistan not crumbled under the weight of expectation when it came to their run chase, Sri Lanka could still be winless.
The Sri Lankan bowling attack came out of their last display with plenty of credit but that is not the case for their batsmen. Only their opening pair have shown anything resembling any form. The rest have been like a pack of cards so they need to have hoped that the six days since their win over Afghanistan has acted as the respite needed to find some form even if it has only been in the nets.
Team News
There is a doubt over Shakib-al-Hasan for Bangladesh in this match which is the last thing they need. He has a quadriceps injury so Liton Das and Sabbir Rahman are on standby to come in for him if he doesn’t make it.
Sri Lanka have been forced into one change with Nuwan Pradeep, their hero of the win over Afghanistan, ruled out. Jeevan Mendis was slated to come into the side but with rain around on the day it could be that they go with another seamer or a batsman.
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Betting
Depending on which forecast you look at we could have anything from the odd shower to a washout amid Armageddon so with that in mind it is hard to bet on this match. It does look like there will be some play though so I’ll go with a couple of bets with the first one being Bangladesh to make the highest first 10 over score. Tamim and Soumya like to get on with it and they have both played their shots in this tournament so far, against three decent bowling attacks and I expect them to continue to do that. Sri Lanka got away from Afghanistan last time out but barely played a shot against New Zealand. Dimuth Karunaratne is going at a strike rate of 63.56 in this tournament and while Perera is at a run a ball four of his last five innings against Bangladesh have seen him out for 11 or fewer. 2-3 tight overs from Bangladesh’s spinners should see their side lead through 10 overs.
I wasn’t going to back Isuru Udana to be the top batsman in what is likely to be a reduced match here but given that nobody other than the openers have more than 29 runs in the tournament and the fact that Boylesports are cray enough to go 100/1 on him I can’t resist a dabble on him again. It was a T20 game where he belted 84* against Sri Lanka earlier in the year so a shortage of overs shouldn’t necessarily count against him. He’s a daft price.
Tips
VOID – Back Bangladesh Highest 1st 10 Overs for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
VOID – Back I.Udana Top Sri Lanka Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 101.00 with Boylesports
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