T20 World Cup, SL vs NED: Match Preview and stats
Sri Lanka will be up against Netherlands in Match 38 of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia on June 17. While SL have been eliminated from the Super 8 race and will play for pride, the Dutch have an outside chance to qualify. Here is the match preview.
Pitch report and other details
The only previous game at this venue in the ongoing tourney saw Australia chase down 181 against Scotland. Hence, batters will back themselves to shine. Meanwhile, there was a bit of assistance for the new-ball pacers as well. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream it on Disney+Hotstar (6:00am IST).
Here's the head-to-head record
All of SL's three previous meetings against Netherlands have come in the T20 WC. The Lankans have prevailed on all occasions. Meanwhile, besides defeating SL, Netherlands need Bangladesh to lose their final league fixture against Nepal. The Dutch must win convincingly as they (-0.408) also trail the Tigers (+0.478) in terms of NRR. Meanwhile, SL are yet to win a game in this tourney.
Can Netherlands cause another upset?
The Dutch team has upset teams like England (twice) and South Africa in the past T20 WCs. Hence, they would back themselves to record another unexpected win again. Though SL have a formidable squad, they have not been able to perform as a unit. The 2014 edition champions have been majorly let down by their batters.
A look at the probable XIs
Sri Lanka (Probable XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana. Netherlands (Probable XI): Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma.
Here are the key performers
Nuwan Thushara and Wanindu Hasaranga have claimed five and four wickets apiece in the ongoing competition. Angelo Mathews (511 at 21.29) and Pathum Nissanka (485 at 28.52) have been SL's star batters at T20 WCs. Max O'Dowd has clobbered 433 T20 WC runs at 36.08. Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, and, Paul van Meekeren have fared decently with the ball in the ongoing event.
