Last Updated on 4 weeks by Charbel Coorey

ENG vs SL 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | ENG vs SL 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | England vs Sri Lanka 1st T20 Key Players | Cardiff Pitch Report

Sri Lanka is all set to start their challenging England tour with T20I match at Cardiff on June 23. Six limited overs matches are scheduled between the respective teams – 3 T20Is followed by 3 ODIs. After losing to WTC Finalists New Zealand in the Test series, England would like to get victory over Sri Lanka, who are led by young captain Kusal Perera.

Captain Morgan will be happy with the announced squad, which seems to be strong and confident as always. On the other hand, it will be a tough job for the visitors to have success against the number one-ranked T20I side at home. But team Sri Lanka also looks talented enough and well equipped to give England some problems throughout the contest.

Both teams will be having a strict eye on the ICC T20 World Cup to be held later this year, as they will look to get the strongest playing 11 and look at all these matches as practice for the big event. Remember both sides are coming with failure against India and Windies respectively in a 5-match T20I series each.

Match Details:

• Match: England vs Sri Lanka T20I series 2021, 1st T20I
• Date and Time: June 23, 6:30 PM (local time), 11 PM IST
• Venue: Cardiff Wales Stadium, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats:

England: 

• Jos Buttler is known as one of the best limited-overs batsmen in the world. With such flexibility in his game, he can make a huge impact on whichever game he plays. He scored brilliant 172 runs at 42 in the last series he played against India. And also he is coming from IPL with a mind-blowing century over there. And he will keep wickets for England in this series. So surely if he gets going, he can be the cause of worry of Sri Lankan bowlers. 
• He has scored 188 runs at an average of 47 in 6 T20I matches against Sri Lanka. He will be very keen to make these stats look even better through this series.
• Another English inform opener Jason Roy can be the cause of worry for the guests. He has hit 8 sixes in only 3 matches he played against SL, and it proves his destroying nature which can harm the opponents. 
• He has scored 111 runs in 3 matches and also smashed a brilliant 69 (36) in the last game he played against them. Surely he is going to be a threat for Lankan bowlers.
• Eoin Morgan has the most runs for any England player vs SL in T20Is (201, avg. 33.50, SR 123.31). He was under par in the India T20Is and IPL, so it will be interesting to see how he fares back home.
• The English all-rounder Sam Curran will be a crucial player too for England in the forthcoming T20Is. Curran will play in the lower-middle order and he will probably bowl during powerplay overs for England. In the ongoing T20 Blast tournament, the left-arm seamer has picked 6 wickets at an average of 14. And also he scored some brilliant and essential runs for his team wherever he played. 
• Moeen Ali has impressed all cricket fans with his amazing performances in ongoing T20 Blast and IPL 2021 plase 1. He has proved to be an excellent all-rounder for the T20 matches. He can attack over any bowler any time and also get some crucial wickets with his off spin. He is going to be an important player for hosts in the absence of star player Ben Stokes, particularly if he bats higher up the order.
• In Eng vs SL matches, Moeen has a best strike rate of 225.00 in 3 matches among all the current players.

Sri Lanka:

• The Sri Lankan skipper and opener, Kusal Perera, will be one of the players to watch out for the Islanders. He had a really good ODI series against Bangladesh where he scored a match-winning hundred in the last game of the series. He is making his comeback in the T20I team, but there is never a doubt on his potential and hitting ability. He is the highest T20I run-scorer in this current squad of Sri Lanka. 
• Akila Dhananjaya: Akila is known as a T20I specialist mystery spinner . He recently took a hattrick of 3 wickets against West Indies and made his grand comeback from suspension. He can make English batsmen get the way of the pavilion with his mystery bowling. 
• Do you know, After taking a hattrick against West Indies he was hit for 6 sixes in an over by Kieron Pollard? So he has to be cautious about the attacking English batsmen . 
• Wanindu Hasaranga has been an exceptional limited-overs player for Sri Lanka in recent times. In the last series against Bangladesh, he scored 98 runs and scalped 3 wickets in three ODI matches. In the last T20I series against Windies, he picked 8 wickets in three matches. He will be a very important player for this Sri Lankan side in this series.
• So the inform all rounder will be looking forward to the series as the opportunity to show his best more and more.

Stats and Facts: 

• Head to head: Matches 9, England 5, Sri Lanka 4.
• Last 5 matches: England 4, Sri Lanka 1.
• Dawid Malan has 11 50+ scores in 24 T20Is, and is averaging 50.15 with a strike rate of 144.31.
• This is the first time that ENG and SL are playing a 3 match T20I series. Till now they have played in ICC events or one-off T20Is.
• England has not lost any T20I match at Cardiff. They have played 6 matches there and won all of them. 

Squads  

England: Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Sri Lanka:  Kusal Perera(C), Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Charith Asalanka,Dasun Shanak, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya and Praveen Jayawickrama.

Possible Playing 11

England: 1. Jason Roy, 2. Jos Buttler (wk), 3. Dawid Malan, 4. Jonny Bairstow, 5. Eoin Morgan (c), 6. Moeen Ali, 7. Sam Curran, 8. Chris Woakes, 9. Chris Jordan, 10. Adil Rashid, 11. Mark Wood

Sri Lanka: 1. Kusal Parera (c & wk), 2. Danushka Gunathilaka, 3. Kusal Mendis, 4. Pathum Nissanka, 5. Dhananjaya de Silva, 6. Oshada Fernando, 7. Wanindu Hasaranga, 8. Isuru Udana, 9. Akila Dananjaya, 10. Dushmantha Chameera, 11. Nuwan Pradeep 

Cardiff Pitch Report and Weather

The pitch will be batting-friendly for the T20I at Cardiff. It is usually a high-scoring venue and is likely to remain the same for the first England vs Sri Lanka T20I. There will be very little help for the seam bowlers. The weather should remain clear during the match hours as the complete match will happen without any interruption due to rain. But English weather can change within a few seconds.

Dream 11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Tip: Edit your Fantasy team after the toss and you can choose more batsmen than usual as a batting friendly pitch is expected.

Match Prediction:

England will be the favorites to win this match against Sri Lanka, on the back of their strong batting. Sri Lanka have some talent in their ranks, but it is a long shot of seeing them sustain pressure for long enoug to win. England to win.

Written by Aditya Narsale. Follow Aditya on Twitter today.