WT20: England bank on spinners against Sri Lanka
March 26, 2016  19:03
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Welcome to the coverage of the ICC World T20 match between England and Sri Lanka in New Delhi, on Saturday.

After a below-par batting performance against minnows Afghanistan, England will be determined to get their act together against defending champions Sri Lanka in a group league encounter of the ICC World Twenty20, in New Delhi, on Saturday.

It will be quite a test for the Joe Roots and Eoin Morgans as they will face quality spin bowling from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay on a sluggish Kotla track. While the match will be Sri Lanka's third league game, the England side under Eoin Morgan will be going all out to notch up their third win in a bid to qualify for the semifinals.

England, according to legendary Sachin Tendulkar's prediction, is the favourite to be among the four semi-finalists. With two wins out of three, a good win against a depleted Lankan side will not only enhance their chances of semifinal qualification but also become a cause of worry for other teams. For England, the tournament so far has been a mixed bag. On a flat Wankhede deck, their batsmen fared well in both matches.

While Chris Gayle's blazing blade saw them lose against the West Indies despite scoring 182, it was sheer brilliance of Joe Root and Jason Roy which enabled them to chase down a mammoth target of 230 against South Africa. Root, with scores of 48 and 83 in both matches, has looked in good form. But England's batting got thoroughly exposed against a much weaker but spirited Afghanistan side on a tricky Feroz Shah Kotla track in their last match. It was Moeen Ali's rear guard action that saved them the blushes against the Afghans after being reduced to 85/7.

Sri Lanka, who are going through the transition phase have found it very hard to be consistent.

Veteran opener Tillekaratne Dilshan, who is back in form, will like to use all his experience of playing on these tracks but he would certainly need to support at the other end.

To be fair, even with all his cricketing attributes, skipper Angelo Mathews has looked out of depth at times in the shortest format, which is not the case when he plays Tests and ODIs. More so, because a few players like Dinesh Chandimal and Chamara Kapugedara, who have been playing long enough for the Sri Lankan side, have not transformed from being potential to sure shot match winners.

* Deferred updates in compliance with Indian laws
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