Sri Lanka are former winners of the T20 World Cup but after a disappointing campaign in the UAE a year ago they have to begin their 2022 tournament in the opening phase. They start out as the standout team in Group A. Sri Lanka arrive in Australia as the Asia Cup champions and will be expected to dominate Group A. Should they do that they will hope a decent campaign follows.
Profile
Captain: Dasun Shanaka
Previous Best: Winners 2014
Key Players: Pathum Nissanka & Wanindu Hasaranga
Best Odds: 25/1 Betfred
Group A Fixtures
Oct 16 vs Namibia at Geelong
Oct 18 vs UAE at Geelong
Oct 20 vs Netherlands at Geelong
Squad
Dasun Shanaka (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera (subject to fitness), Lahiru Kumara (subject to fitness), Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan. Standby Players: Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrema, Dinesh Chandimal, Binura Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando.
Team Guide
Sri Lanka have the makings of a good team starting to materialise. They have some good young batters mixed in with one or two older ones. They have a good mix of steady players and those who can get on with it and they have all played in a T20 international series in Australia so the conditions shouldn’t be alien to them, which could be half of the battle in this tournament. That batting isn’t short of depth either.
Sri Lanka could be special with the ball in these conditions too. It is said that Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara have bowled enough overs ahead of the tournament to be at full capacity and they have serious heat. Dilshan Madushanka is improving all the time too. In Wanindu Hasaranga they have arguably the best leg spinner in world cricket right now so there really is a lot to like about this young Sri Lanka side.
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Betting
I fully expect Sri Lanka to come out of the opening group so I am expecting them to have at least eight matches in the tournament, weather permitting. That means there is enough time for a top Sri Lanka batter market to nurture naturally and see the cream rise to the top rather than be skewed by a cameo down the order in a short amount of games. With that in mind I’ll take the man who will be assigned the task of pacing the innings through in Pathum Nissanka.
He is one short of 500 T20I runs in 2022 and they have come in just 17 games. He has four 50s in that time. Sri Lanka were in Australia at the beginning of the year for a T20 series in which Nissanka was the top scorer and he was second in the run list for Sri Lanka in this tournament a year ago. He was the second highest scorer for Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup as well so he has a mountain of work behind him. At 11/4 I think he’s the standout to be the top Sri Lanka batter at this competition.
Tips
Back P.Nissanka Top Sri Lanka Tournament Batter for a 2/10 stake at 3.75 with Betfair
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