Sri Lanka will look to win their 2nd ICC T20 title as they face South Africa in their first game of the tournament on 3rd June in New York. They will be led by Wanindu Hasranga.
The Sri Lankan team qualified for this event after reaching the top 8 of the 2022 edition played in Australia. Their performances would depend on batters scoring big runs and bowlers need to showcase their skills to stop run flow and pick wickets.
Here we look at the 5 key players:
Kusal Mendis
The stylish right-handed batter Kusal Mendis had a brilliant tournament for Sri Lanka in the 2022 edition. He batted brilliantly with 223 runs from 8 matches (8 innings) with 2 half-centuries to his name including the best score of 79.
He will be key for Sri Lanka to provide attacking starts in the first six overs not allowing the bowlers to settle and keep momentum going. Kusal Mendis would look to create enough pressure with his attacking style, keeping the scoreboard ticking, and making sure that he wins matches for the Lankan team.
Kusal Mendis would be eager to get going in the first match against the South African team which will lay a strong foundation for the rest of the tournament.
Charith Asalanaka
Charith Asalanaka has improved a lot as a T20I batter for Sri Lanka. He comes in the middle order and can anchor the innings and hits big shots putting pressure on bowlers.
Asalanaka had a decent tournament in the 2022 edition of T20 World with 131 runs from 7 matches (7 innings) with the best score of 38 not out. He has played 44 T20I matches for Sri Lanka (44 innings) scoring 990 runs including the best score of 80.
The stylish left-handed batter will look to put his best forward with a positive mindset and keep momentum going for Sri Lanka in middle overs.
Sadeera Samawickrama
Sadeera Samawickrama is another quality batter who can score runs depending on the situation. He will be playing his first T20 World Cup and would be eager to prove his worth on the world stage.
Samawickrama featured in 18 T20I matches (16 innings) including 259 runs with the best score of 61. He would be key for Sri Lanka to anchor the innings and ensure that he can win matches with his aggressive mindset, especially with the way he plays the spinners.
Wanindu Hasranga
Wanindu Hasranga would lead the Sri Lankan side in this edition. He will be returning to the side after missing the IPL 2024 due to an injury.
Hasranga finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2022 edition with 15 wickets from 8 matches (8 innings) at an economy of 6.41 runs per over. He is currently the joint leading bowler along with Shakib AL Hasan in T20I format.
His role is to pick wickets that would stop the run flow and keep pressure on the batters. The pitches might help the spinners which could be a handful, especially against Nepal and Netherlands who are not good players or genuine spinners.
Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana would be leading the pace bowling attack with Dilshan Madushanka. He had a decent performance in IPL 2024 with 13 wickets from 6 matches including best figures of 4 for 28 against Mumbai Indians.
Pathirana has played 6 T20I matches for Sri Lanka so far with 11 wickets at an economy of 9.56 runs per over including figures of 4 for 24. With his awkward action, Pathirana can be a lethal weapon that would put pressure on the opponent bowlers.
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