The first of three T20 matches between Pakistan and Sri Lanka takes place in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with both sides looking to get off to a fast start and gain instant control of the very quick fire battle.
The winners of this first match will have two shots at securing the series while whichever team loses will have nowhere to go in terms of breathing room if they want to come out on top over the overall distance.
Pakistan
Everything is good about Pakistan at the minute. They are on a real roll after five successive wins in the ODI series and they are going back to their homeland for the final match of the three on Sunday having already staged a successful series there recently. You can tell that Pakistan cricket is on the up again and they are very dangerous.
I’ve waxed lyrical about their bowling attack for a while and with good reason. The Sri Lankans aren’t the only ones who have been on the rough end of the quality within it. The worrying thing for the rest of the world is there is plenty of depth to it too. There is just no bowler you can go after with confidence.
Sri Lanka
Somehow Sri Lanka need to get themselves together and try and get something going. They should have good vibes in this format having won series in South Africa and Australia this year already. You have to say though that this looks a tougher task then those two especially as they go to Pakistan for the final match.
These three matches are played over the course of just five days though so if they can start well there is every chance that they could ride the wave of positivity and confidence to an overall victory. If that is going to happen they need to up their game with the ball and find some heart and fight with the bat in their hand.
Team News
Pakistan are unlikely to make too many changes from the side which secured the ODI series. Ahmed Shehzad is expected to come back in to open with Imad Wasim likely to play too. Usman Khan may have done enough to keep his spot.
Thisara Perera will skipper Sri Lanka in this series. Guessing their XI is going to be nigh on impossible given how hastily their squad was arranged but we know there will be no Niroshan Dickwella, Angelo Mathews or Asela Gunaratne.
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Betting
I expect Pakistan to win the match but they are plenty short enough to do so and the handicap line is set at a figure which could go either way to be fair so I don’t really want to get involved in either of the main bets so to speak.
I will take a player performance bet and I will chance the Sri Lanka skipper Thisara Perera, who has a low looking line at 30.5pts. He went well enough in both Abu Dhabi ODIs with the bat and the ball and as captain he’s likely to field closer to the bat here too. He is one of the better T20 players in the world on his day and I think he can cover that line.
Tips
Back T.Perera’s Performance – Over 30.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back him here:
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