Colombo, Feb 12 (IANS) Oman won the toss and elected to bowl against Sri Lanka in their Group B encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Sri Lanka begin their T20 World Cup campaign in Pallekele facing Oman, but without key spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. His absence is a major blow, especially at a venue known to favour spin, placing added responsibility on Maheesh Theekshana and the rest of the slow-bowling attack.
Sri Lanka will also look for improvement with the bat after struggling for fluency against Ireland, particularly in the middle overs. The top order needs to show more intent ahead of tougher matches.
For Oman, this is their first-ever T20I against Sri Lanka. They come into the match after being bowled out for 103 by Zimbabwe and must adapt quickly to Pallekele’s slower conditions. With the average winning first-innings score around 170, Oman will need a far more disciplined batting effort to challenge the hosts.
Winning the toss, Oman captain Jatinder Singh said, “We’re gonna bowl first, and since there is a bit of moisture, we just want to utilize the conditions. Well, I believe there’s hardly anything you can pick from the first game, and it’s like one game don’t define us, so we just need to get our batting right, so I think everything will fall in place. Yeah, preparations have been really good, so they are the full members, so definitely they play really competitive cricket. We don’t get a chance to play with the test playing nations, so this is a golden opportunity for us to come and showcase our talent. I think if you keep your wickets intact, maybe later on you can accelerate. That is what it seems like on this venue. There are two changes. We have Jay Odedra and Mohammad Nadeem coming in.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka said, “Yes, unfortunately our champion bowler, Hasaranga misses out, so we’ve had to make that change. We expected to score more runs, but under the circumstances especially with the pitch playing a bit on the slower side it wasn’t easy. Hopefully, the conditions will be better for us today. Of course. We’ve discussed a few plans and combinations. Hopefully, if the conditions allow, we’ll be able to execute them well.”
Playing XIs
Oman: Jatinder Singh (c), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Jay Odedra
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Dushaan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
–IANS
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