Bangladesh round off their tour of Sri Lanka with a couple of T20 matches this week with the first of them coming from Colombo on Tuesday. So far on this tour the two sides have shared the Test series and the three match ODI campaign so these two games will decide who leaves with the upper hand.
Whoever wins this opening match of the two will be assured of a share of this series with a match to come later in the week so this match may well be more competitive than some in the grand scheme of things.
Sri Lanka
I think this is now Sri Lanka’s best format so they will expect to dominate both these matches. Since the turn of the year they have won a series in South Africa and another in Australia when they were expected to struggle in the conditions so now that they are back in conditions which should suit them they are worthy favourites.
One of the reasons why Sri Lanka are better in this format than any other is their bowling attack. They have some tricky spinners who don’t go for many and then Lasith Malinga is back in the ranks too but in recent times they have unearthed some really good top order batsmen so all of a sudden they are a side to be reckoned with.
Bangladesh
The improvement in Bangladesh in the 50 over format hasn’t totally transferred to the 20 over arena although they are a much better side in T20 than they were. They go into this series off the back of a bit of a shellacking at the hands of New Zealand the last time they were in the 20 over sphere which will be a concern.
The weakness for Bangladesh in this format of the game has been with their bowling attack. While their spinners can hold an end up and be economical in the 50 over variety of the game they have a hittable element to them in this and their seamers can be cannon fodder which puts pressure on their batsmen and they’re not always able to cope.
Team News
Kusal Perera has been passed fit to play in this match but it remains to be seen just where he’ll bat. Lakshan Sandakan is expected to get his place in the side back.
It doesn’t look like Bangladesh are going to make too many changes from the side which played in the ODI series. Mehedi Hasan is expected to stay in the side.
Betting
I definitely think Sri Lanka have the edge over Bangladesh in this format and I’m expecting them to win at least this first game if not both of them. While Sri Lanka are pretty short to back to win a T20 match the handicap isn’t all that big and can certainly be covered.
Sri Lanka are very adept in this sphere and we’ve seen them beat better sides than Bangladesh and beat them well recently. I expect the home side to win this and win it by enough to cover a meagre sized handicap.
Tips
WON – Back Sri Lanka (-2.5 wickets/6.5 runs) to beat Bangladesh for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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