World Cup 2019, Match 11, Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Match Prediction: Who will win today's match
Cricket can be a strange sport at times, especially when it involves Pakistan. They looked listless, clueless and surrendered to the pace and bounce of the Windies. That loss brought its fair share of criticism from former players and experts.
And in a very surprising twist of fortune, Pakistan triumphed and that too in a huge manner against England. Not only did they shrug off the 0-4 drubbing they received prior to the World Cup against England but they managed to do that rather well.
They will be up against a side that managed to save face and defeat Afghanistan in their last outing. Their batting seems very fragile, disoriented and weak and would be seriously tested against Amir & Co.
It was their effective and accurate bowling that helped them beat Afghanistan convincingly on a pitch that suited fast bowlers. Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga were the stars, as they nipped out wickets with tight line and length bowling.
Their batting lineup looks lost with Dimuth Karunaratne showing some fight and Kusal Perera showing glimpses of his shot-making skills. But senior, experienced campaigners like Kusal Mendis, Angelo Matthews and Lahiru Thirimanne have been complete let downs with Matthews yet to open his run tally in the World Cup - two ducks in two games.
Sri Lanka's record against Pakistan is far from ideal, in fact, it makes for abysmal reading. They have lost all the seven encounters against Pakistan in the World Cup. These numbers will not help in boosting their confidence ahead of today's clash.
Considering their pretty solid performance against England and the fact that they have a fully fit squad that would play against Sri Lanka today, Pakistan would start as overwhelming favorites to win today's game. Their head to head record against the Lankans is enough morale boost for them ahead of this game.
Key Players for Pakistan - Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Mohammed Amir, and Wahab Riaz.
Key Players for Sri Lanka - Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lasith Malinga, and Nuwan Pradeep.
Also read - World cup most man of the match
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