Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the bilateral series. The first game is to be played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet, Bangladesh, on 4 March. Soon after the Bangladesh Premier League ended, one could almost sense that cricket in the country was about to kick off.
This game will be played on a hostile note since both teams will be keen on getting a positive result by the end of the evening. However, it will be challenging given that they are nicely matched with each other, with Bangladesh having the massive advantage of playing in familiar conditions.
As cited by Megaways, the form of the players in the BPL final will have a big say in the fiercely contested match. This will automatically have a big say in the first T20I, given that Bangladesh’s players will hardly have enough time to rest, relax and rejuvenate before preparing for this series. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are well rested.
Predicted Squads
Bangladesh: Anamul Haque, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam.
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka.
Key Players
Anamul Haque (Bangladesh): Wicketkeeper-opener Anamul Haque comes into this game after a fantastic BPL season and will be expected to translate that into this series. Bangladesh will hope to give Anamul enough chances to showcase his wares to the world.
Maheesh Theekshana (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka’s off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana is undoubtedly the player who has the highest X-factor in their side. His ability to bowl with the new and old balls makes him a tough nut to crack. Theekshana will want to pick up a lot of wickets in this game.
Match Prediction
Sri Lanka are the downright favourites to win this game, and we expect them to do so quite comfortably in the end. If they can do so, they can put a marker in the first game of the series and lead it. The home team, however, will not let them do so that easily and fight and resist it all the way.
