GameDay Squad Cricket Match Preview: Bangladesh come up against Sri Lanka in the 38th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Delhi on the 6th of November.
Bangladesh played Pakistan in their seventh match of the CWC, and Pakistan won by 7 wickets. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Bangladesh wasn’t off to a great start with the bat an found themselves 23/3 in the 6th over. Das and Mahmudullah got the innings back on track and took the score though to 102 in the 21st over before Das was dismissed. The Pakistan bowlers continued to test the Bangladesh batsmen and make it difficult for them to score runs. Bangladesh struggled through to a total of 204 and were all out in the 46th over. The Bangladesh bowlers were unable to pick up early wickets in the Pakistan run chase and made their first break through in the 22nd over with the score at 128. Pakistan cruised through to the target of 205 in the 33rd over.
The top performers in GDS for Bangladesh were.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz – 117 points
Mahmudullah – 80 points
Shakib Al Hasan – 64 points
Litton Das – 55 points
Taskin Ahmed – 42 points
Sri Lanka played India in their seventh match of the CWC, and India won by 302 runs. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first, this may have been a mistake. Sri Lanka had a great start with the ball and dismissed Sharma on the second ball of the innings but that is as good as it was going to get. The Sri Lanka bowling attack that found it difficult to take wickets through early to middle stages of the Indian innings. They also found it hard to restrict the runs that were flowing for Gill, Kohli and Iyer. India was able to score 357/8 at the end of their 50 overs. The Sri Lankan run chase was off to a terrible start and they found themselves 14/5 before the end of the first power play. The Indian bowlers were in great form, and they managed to bowl Sri Lanka all out for 55 runs in the 20th over.
The top performers in GDS for Sri Lanka were.
Dilshan Madushanka – 141 points
Kasun Rajitha – 40 points
Maheesh Theekshana – 39 points
Kusal Mendis – 32 points
Angelo Mathews – 23 points
Arun Jaitley Stadium & Pitch Information
The pitches at Arun Jaitley Stadium have recently been re-laid, they have used black soil to create surfaces expected to offer more bounce and favorable conditions for fast bowlers. This might be the case but the pitches at this stadium have offered up plenty of runs so far this CWC. This will be the fifth match in the CWC played here. The team batting first has won the match three times. In seven of the eight Innings here this CWC, we have seen 200+ runs scored. Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka haven’t been having the best tournament with the bat, but both are very capable to continue this high scoring trend at this ground.
Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka predicted XIs
Bangladesh: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera/Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Najmul Hossain Shanto, Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne. Over the CWC these batters average the following points in GDS.
Najmul Hossain Shanto – 17 points
Pathum Nissanka – 53 points
Dimuth Karunaratne – 15 points
In GDS there are five players combined from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have the batter position designation. All five of these players are predicted to play, three from Bangladesh and two from Sri Lanka. Nissanka is easily my first picked batsmen for this match as the other four batsmen average from 15-23 points in GDS. To be honest, I really don’t want to pick any of these other batsmen but I have leaned towards Shanto and Karunaratne as my other selections. Shanto started the CWC with a half century against Afghanistan but since then he has failed to score any more than nine runs in his last six innings. Both Hasan and Hridoy aren’t much better, and I’ve gone with Shanto above them as he has shown better form throughout 2023 than the other two. I’ve gone with Karunaratne as my third batsmen as I think the Sri Lankan bowling attack will be harder to score against than the Bangladesh bowling attack.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining batters for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the following order. Tanzid Hasan and Towhid Hridoy.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Charith Asalanka. Over the CWC these all-rounders average the following points in GDS.
Mahmudullah – 68 points
Shakib Al Hasan – 76 points
Mehidy Hasan Miraz – 86 points
Charith Asalanka – 31 points
In GDS there are nine players combined from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have the all-rounder position designation. Five of these nine players are predicted to play, three from Bangladesh and two from Sri Lanka. Mahmudullah, Al Hasan and Miraz are locked in for me. Mahmudullah just keeps performing with the bat in the CWC. Al Hasan and Miraz are both genuine all-rounders that can bowl their full complement of the ten overs and bat high up in the Bangladesh batting order. The fourth all-rounder selection comes down to either Asalanka or Hemantha and I’m leaning towards Asalanka. One thing that goes against Asalanka is that he hasn’t bowled this CWC. However, Hemantha hasn’t really impressed with the ball when he’s been given the opportunity. There is talk that Hemantha might even make way for Wellalage if Sri Lanka want to strengthen their batting line up. If Wellalage does start, he will take my fourth all-rounder spot.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining all-rounders for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the following order. Dushan Hemantha.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Taskin Ahmed, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka. Over the CWC these bowlers average the following points in GDS.
Taskin Ahmed – 55 points
Kasun Rajitha – 77 points
Dilshan Madushanka – 88 points
In GDS there are eleven players combined from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have the bowler position designation. Six of these eleven players are predicted to play, three from both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Madushanka is the pick of the bowlers for me in this match. He has taken 18 wickets and this the second most by anyone in the CWC, only Zampa is in front of him with 19. Going by the performances through the CWC, Rajitha will be second bowler picked. Especially with him coming up against the out of form Bangladesh top order. Ahmed edges out Islam as my third bowler. Islam was the better bowler between the two in the early stages of the CWC. After Ahmed returned from injury, he has been the better bowler and has outscored Islam in GDS over the last two matches.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the following order. Shoriful Islam, Maheesh Theekshana and Mustafizur Rahman.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Kusal Mendis. Over the CWC these wicket keepers average the following points in GDS.
Litton Das – 43 points
Mushfiqur Rahim – 33 points
Kusal Mendis – 65 points
Sadeera Samarawickrama – 63 points
There is honestly nothing separating Mendis and Samarawickrama over the CWC. In GDS, Mendis has scored a total of 458 points and Samarawickrama 444. I have ranked Mendis just ahead because he is the one behind the stumps and offers a safer floor. Samarawickrama is a great POD option as he has scored more runs than Mendis over the CWC.
If you don’t have the suggested player in your squad, I have ranked the remaining wicket keepers for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the following order. Sadeera Samarawickrama, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim.