Hosts England take on Sri Lanka in the second T20 of the 3-match series at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday evening.

The first match of the series went along the expected lines as England registered a thumping 8-wicket win over the visitors, with close to 3 overs to spare. England have been very strong at home in the shortest form and will be looking to continue their good form. Jos Buttler showed why he is a star T20 batter by taking the team home, alongside Jason Roy. The pace quartet of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Chris Jordan all did a fantastic job, ensuring that no easy runs were given during the Lankan innings. Add to that leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who delivered an amazing spell and proved why he is such a vital cog in the English bowling unit. 

The visiting side, Sri Lanka, will need to produce something special to beat this strong English team in the shortest format. They looked poor in all the departments and haven’t had time to adjust to the conditions. Batting first on a good wicket, they could only muster 129 runs in their allocated 20 overs. Were it not for Dasun Shanaka’s entertaining knock down the order, they would have fared much worse. The bowling appears to be pretty flat at the moment. While Chameera started well in the last match, the others gave away easy runs to the English openers. Hasaranga and Udana look to be the team's best bets in this match.

Given their performance in the last match, it seems a very difficult task for Sri Lanka to come out of this game with anything other than a loss. Nonetheless, expect a highly entertaining game of T20 cricket at Sophia Gardens on Thursday evening.

Match Details

• Match: England vs. Sri Lanka, 2nd T20
• Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
• Date & Time: June 24, 2021, at 11 PM IST/6.30 PM Local

Probable Playing XI

England

Jos Buttler (WK), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan (C), Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid 

Sri Lanka

Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera (C & WK), Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep

Weather and Pitch Report

Cardiff is expected to have overcast conditions during the match. The temperature will be around 18 degrees during the game. 

Cardiff has generally been a good batting wicket with a possibility of a high-scoring game on the cards. Batters are likely to dominate, despite some early help on offer for the bowlers from the surface. The pitch will slow down as the match progresses, bringing the spinners into play in the second innings. The average first-innings score at this venue in the seven T20I matches played here has been 147 runs. 

The team batting second has a good record at this venue, winning 4 out of the 6 games played. So the captain winning the toss is likely to opt to field first. A score of around 170 runs should be a competitive one here.

Top Fantasy Picks

England

• Jos Buttler was at his ruthless best in the last match as he scored a scintillating unbeaten 68 runs off 55 balls to win the game. Buttler has scored 1791 T20I runs at an average of 31.42, with 13 half centuries in 80 matches. He will look to go big again in this match.
• Dawid Malan missed out on the opportunity of finishing the game for England and got out after making just 7 runs. He has not crossed 23-run mark in any of his last five T20 innings, with the last three all being single-digit scores. Expect him to bounce back with a statement innings. 
• Adil Rashid, who delivered an amazing spell of 2 for 17 in the last match, once again proved why he is rated so highly by the English captain. He is a match-winner in this format, having picked up 57 wickets in 58 matches at a strike rate of 20.8.

Sri Lanka

• Danushka Gunathilaka was one of the only three Sri Lankan batters to reach double figures in the last match, making 19 runs off 16 balls. He has been fairly consistent at the top of the order in recent matches but needs to go on and make a big score soon.
• Kusal Perera looked comfortable at the crease in the last match, looking to dominate the bowlers in his usual aggressive manner. He scored 30 runs off 26 balls, including 1 four and 1 six, before getting dismissed against spin. He will look to score at least a half century here. 
• Wanindu Hasaranga failed to do much with both bat and ball in the last game. He scored 5 runs with the bat before bowling an economical spell of just 12 runs without a wicket. In the past, he has been most effective in this format and will look to make an impact here.

Howzat Dream Team

• Wicketkeepers: J Buttler, K Perera
• Batsmen: D Malan, L Livingstone, D Gunathilaka
• All-rounders: S Curran, W Hasaranga
• Bowlers: A Rashid, C Jordan, D Chameera, I Udana

• Captain: D Malan/L Livingstone
• Vice Captain: W Hasaranga/K Perera

NOTE: The Howzat dream team above is just a suggestion. You can make your match prediction and play fantasy cricket matches. Also, don’t forget to make any necessary changes to your team once the actual playing 11 is announced by each team (30 minutes before the start of the match) as some players you have selected might not be part of the team suggested.

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