Not many gave Sri Lanka much of a chance in this tournament, but they have a shot at qualifying for the semi-finals as they face Pakistan in what is a virtual quarter-final in the final match of the group stages in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
After losing in their first game against South Africa, the Sri Lankans put up a brilliant batting performance – chasing down a target of 322 against India on Thursday.
There was one bit of bad news for Angelo Mathews’ side during that win against India though, as Kusal Perera suffered a hamstring injury during the game and became the second Sri Lankan player after Chamara Kapugedera to be ruled out of the tournament. Dhananjaya de Silva has been called up as the replacement for the left-handed batsman.
Well done boys! Showed the brand of cricket we have to play to win this tournament... really proud 👍 celebrate the win and onwards we go.
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) June 8, 2017
Just like Sri Lanka, after a disappointing start to their Champions Trophy campaign, Pakistan came back strongly as they got the better of South Africa after a superb bowling display on Wednesday.
Pakistan will know that they have to bring their A-game to the table, especially when it comes to their fielding like they did against the Proteas.
After a below par performance in the field against India, Sarfraz Ahmed’s side produced a vastly improved display in their second match in that aspect of the game.
It is a must-win game for Pakistan as Sri Lanka have a slightly better net run-rate which means that the Lankans will go through in case of a no-result.
Game against South Africa wasn't a upset it's Pak team who out played them..so well done guys keeping going with smart captaincy & team work
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 8, 2017
Date: June 12, 2017 (Monday)
Time: 13:30 GST, 10:30 local, 09:30 GMT, 15:00 IST, 14:30 PKT
Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
TV: UAE – OSN Sports Cricket HD
Full coverage on Sport360.com.
CONFIRMED SRI LANKA XI: Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Mathews (c), Chandimal, Gunaratne, Thisara, Dhananjaya, Lakmal, Malinga, Pradeep.
CONFIRMED PAKISTAN XI: Azhar, Zaman, Babar, Hafeez, Malik, Sarfraz (c, wk), Imad, Ashraf, Amir, Hasan, Junaid.
SPORT360 MATCH PREDICTION: Another very tough match to predict. Pakistan seem to have the better bowling line-up, but you never know what type of performance they will produce on the day. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be encouraged by their batting display against India, but Kusal Perera could be a big miss.
