Preview: Champions Trophy: Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka

It will be a do-or-die match for both Pakistan and Sri Lanka when they will go head to head in Group B Champions Trophy match at the Sophia Gardens here on Monday (June 12). The winner will go to semi-finals against England and well, the loser will go home.
Pakistan was thrashed by India in their opener and Sri Lanka went down convincingly to South Africa but the surprise wins in their second matches are now giving them a chance to qualify for the finals. If Monday’s must-win clash between the two sub-continent teams yields no result due to rain, then India and South Africa are likely to go through to the semi-finals.

Pakistan
When it comes to Pakistan the pace bowlers will once again hold the key to making the way for a win. If they get going then opponents will surely have a tough time. Mohammad Amir with the new ball will provide the much-needed breakthroughs. Pakistan’s batting looks weak and with no hard-hitters in the team, they will have to rely on Mohammad Amir to do the damage with the ball in what could be a high-scoring game.

Sri Lanka
For Sri Lanka, the bad news is Kusal Perera will be out of action. He is the second Sri Lankan to be ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy. However, the return of Angelo Mathews will be a big boost for them. Sri Lanka chased 322 runs against India comfortably with the help of a fine innings by Kusal Mendis (89), Danushka Gunathilaka (76) and all-rounder Angelo Mathews (52). This will certainly boost their morale. They have a young batting line-up and that is a weak point as this is a high-pressure game for them. Sri Lanka has never won an ODI at this ground, they have played three and lost all of them. Skipper Mathews is the team’s most experienced and reliable batsmen and he will hold the key to Sri Lanka’s batting. Thisara Perera was the pick of the bowlers in recent matches, finishing with reasonably good figures. The pacer bowled particularly well at the death and he could cause a few problems for the Pakistani batsmen.

Head to Head stats
Pakistan has an upper hand in terms of the head-to-head count with 84 wins and 1 tie in the 143 one-day internationals against Sri Lanka. The two teams last faced each other in 2015 in a five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka which Pakistan ended up winning 3-2.