In the 2023 Asia Cup, the reigning champions, Sri Lanka, continued their impressive run with a flawless performance. They maintained their unbeaten streak by defeating Bangladesh by a margin of 21 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday. This victory marked Sri Lanka’s 13th consecutive win in One Day Internationals. Additionally, Bangladesh has been knocked out of the Asia Cup 2023 as a result of this defeat.
In the next Super 4 match, the Sri Lankan team will be taking on the seven-time Asia Cup winner, India, and will be looking to carry on with the form that the team is currently in. Let us now look at the playing XI which the Sri Lankan team will opt for;
Top Order
The openers for the Sri Lankan team will be Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne who looked steady in their match against Bangladesh. Unfortunately, Karunaratne was done by a peach of a delivery from Hasan Mahmud. Nissanka on the other end looked steady for his innings of 40 runs. The number three for the Sri Lanka team will be Kusal Mendis who will be coming into the game on the back of two consecutive half-centuries. So, the wicketkeeper batter would certainly be looking to make the most of this opportunity against India.
Middle Order
The number four for Sri Lanka will be Sadeera Samarawickrama who again is coming from a terrific previous match against Bangladesh. Probably he was the only batter who looked really comfortable in the middle and played a brilliant knock of 93. The number five for the Sri Lanka team will be Charith Asalanka who will be looking to find some form as it has been a poor tournament so far, the left-hand batter.
All-rounders
The number six and number seven for the Sri Lankan team will be their all-rounders Dhananjaya de Silva and skipper Dasun Shanaka who have been brilliant with the ball in the tournament so far but haven’t quite lived up to their expectations when it comes to batting.
Bowlers
The number eight will be Dunith Wellalage who has been a find for the Sri Lankan team in the Asia Cup 2023. It is not to be forgotten that he was one of the heroes for the host nation in the game against Afghanistan both with the bat as well as the ball. The number nine will be Maheesh Theekshana who has been in some terrific form in the tournament. The number ten and eleven will be Kasun Rajitha and Matheesha Pathirana who have bowled well both with the new ball as well as with the old ball.