Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh 1st ODI Preview Dream11 Prediction. SL vs BAN 1st ODI Preview Dream11 26th July 2019

A new era begins and one ends.

Life after the 2019 World Cup is here for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. New players are in for an opportunity to impress, and so too are players who were left out of a World Cup squad. However, this ODI will be the great Lasith Malinga’s last, after announcing his retirement.

Can they send him out a winner? Indeed, Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign was better than most could have expected. Myself included. Impressive wins over England and West Indies created optimism for better times than what has been the case over the last two-and-a-half years.

Bangladesh, carried by the incredible Shakib Al Hasan in the World Cup, won’t have their star all-rounder available for this series. With skipper Mashrafe Mortaza also unavailable, can Tamim Iqbal lead his team to a win and spoil Malinga’s farewell?

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Key to a Sri Lanka win

A shining light from Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign was Avishka Fernando. The 21-year old entered the scene midway through his side’s campaign, and impressed everyone with his timing and strokeplay. How he follows up his campaign will be key, with an opportunity to continue the momentum against a Bangladesh side that struggled for wickets in the opening 20 overs of recent World Cup matches. Sri Lanka will need a platform at the top, so Dimuth Karunatne and Kusal Perera will be key in creating momentum as they did vs Australia last month. Then, can the inconsistent middle order fire to produce a complete batting display – the kind so rare in the past few years?

Indeed, all eyes will be on Lasith Malinga. He and Angelo Mathews are two players who know well the winning feeling against Bangladesh, with Malinga on the losing side just three times in 14 ODIs. Can he wind back the years one final time? Who will assist in providing key middle overs wickets – the kind Sri Lanka have badly lacked? Akila Dananjaya, left out of the World Cup 2019 squad, will be asked to play that crucial role as Sri Lanka look to make inroads into a Shakib-less Bangladesh.

Key to a Bangladesh win

Shakib Al Hasan was so outstanding in the World Cup that he had a strong case for Player of the Tournament. He was arguably first picked in the Team of the Tournament, producing a display that had Bangladesh in with a chance of qualifying for the Semi Finals. However, with him out of this series, much rests on Tamim Iqbal after a disappointing World Cup campaign. The skipper will be tasked with overcoming the Malinga threat early, providing calm for the likes of Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun to set a platform for the experienced middle order players.

Also, like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh have really struggled to take wickets in the early and middle overs. However, they return to the sub-continent where they have enjoyed success in recent years, backed by wickets in each of these two key stages. The loss of Mashrafe Mortaza in these conditions needs to be covered by Mustafizur Rahman, who picked up the bulk of his wickets at the death in the 2019 World Cup. Mehidy Hasan Miraz can be backed to build pressure in a country where he has enjoyed good times in the past. But, eyes will be on Taskin Ahmed, who now has to showcase the kind of bowler many expected him to be after a great start to his ODI career. Can Bangladesh make inroads into Sri Lanka’s batting early?

Pitch and conditions

Hot, humid conditions will greet the players in Colombo. Afternoon showers are likely, with the rain then hopefully staying away in the evening. The pitch is usually a good one for batting, with the average first innings total a big 313 in the last five matches at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Possible Playing 11

Sri Lanka picked a big squad for this series, but should settle on an XI similar to their World Cup campaign, with Akila Dananjaya a chance to come in.

Sri Lanka: 1. Dimuth Karunaratne (c), 2. Kusal Perera (wk), 3. Avishka Fernando, 4. Kusal Mendis, 5. Angelo Mathews, 6. Dhananjaya De Silva, 7. Thisara Perera, 8. Isuru Udana, 9. Nuwan Pradeep, 10. Akila Dhananjaya, 11. Lasith Malinga

A few more changes for Bangladesh. Mohammad Mithun was excellent in the tour game, and is expected to bat at three. Liton Das is out, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza, meaning the likes of Sabbir Rahman and Taskin Ahmed will get opportunities.

Bangladesh: 1. Tamim Iqbal (c), 2. Soumya Sarkar, 3. Mohammad Mithun, 4. Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5. Mahmudullah, 6. Sabbir Rahman, 7. Mossadek Hossain 8. Mehidy Hasan, 9. Taskin Ahmed, 10. Mustafizur Rahman, 11. Rubel Hossain

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Stats and Facts

• Both sides have won three ODIs each in their last six meetings.
• Tamim Iqbal is 129 away from 7,000 ODI runs. No Bangladesh batsman has reached that mark to date.
• Bangladesh have never won an ODI at R Premadasa Stadium (eight attempts).
• Lasith Malinga’s 226th ODI will be his last. He will finish his career as the third-highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka in ODIs.

Match Prediction

What a difficult match to predict.

Sri Lanka will be out to give Lasith Malinga a fitting farewell and Bangladesh have proven to be a tough beat in ODI Cricket over the past few years. Rain could have a say, so the toss is important, but with Shakib out for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka might have a slight edge.

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Thanks for reading!