World Cup 2023: England, Sri Lanka lock horns with hopes of reviving campaign; LIVE streaming and more

Both England and Sri Lanka are at the wrong ends of the 2023 World Cup points table. On Thursday, both the former champions go head-to-head in Bengaluru as they look to revive their campaigns. Midway through the group stage, both teams look in a spot of the bother, but what’s more worrying is England’s inferior net run rate (-1.248) compared to Sri Lanka’s (-1.048). World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table While Sri Lanka are seventh with two points from five games, England are a spot below in eighth place, with the same number of points. Yet, there is no clear favourite in this contest, with both teams seeking fresh starts, and there’s no better venue than the Garden City to do so.

Both teams have injury concerns and both teams have brought in replacements. While for England, Reece Topley was ruled out with an injured index finger and have got in Brydon Carse, Sri Lanka have roped in the experienced Angelo Mathews for the injured Matheesha Pathirana. A win will not push England too far ahead on the chart, but it may give them that tiny bit of motivation against teams like India and Australia ahead. But a defeat against Lanka will take away even the benevolence of mathematics, which is currently scaffolding their hopes. To avoid being in the proximity of an early exit, England need improvement through the order, and in particular their batters need to fire. For that, they will not get a more favourable venue than the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with its short boundaries and pitch aiding runs. The last match here between Australia and Pakistan produced a combined 672 runs, and the England batters would desperately want to repeat their effort against Bangladesh on 10 October when they mustered 364 for 9 at Dharamsala. It has been their bane during this tournament as none of their batters, barring Dawid Malan and Joe Root to a lesser extent, have been able to find their range, a defeat against Afghanistan and the mauling by South Africa still play out like the reels of a bad dream. There was so much riding on the likes of captain Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Liam Livingstone but none of them have delivered. Among them, the malfunctioning of their all-rounders might have been the most disappointing as they were central to England’s bull run in white ball cricket. They started the tournament with four all-rounders — Woakes, Ali, Curran and Livingstone, but three matches later, against South Africa none of them made it to the playing 11. Ben Stokes played as a pure batter. Such a drastic change of template shows the all-round indecisiveness inside the England camp. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid remains their most bankable bowler, as he has taken six wickets so far and his economy rate of 5.18 is the best among the Englishmen. However, England will find some consolation from the fact that Sri Lanka are dealing with an equal amount of mess despite a five-wicket win over Netherlands in their last match. They have lost two players to injuries after four matches — captain Dasun Shanaka and young pacer Matheesha Pathirana. But that does not even feel like a loss as those two were not exactly setting the stage ablaze. If England lacked clarity on several fronts, Sri Lanka are giving them a close run. Sample this. They brought in veteran Angelo Mathews as Pathirana’s replacement when they had a like-for-like pacer in Dushamantha Chameera available among the travelling reserves. It looks like a serious brain fade as Sri Lanka’s main headache is their stingless bowling. They have conceded 428 against SA, 345 against Pakistan and 215 in 35.2 overs against Australia. The Lankan bowlers had reduced the Dutch to 91 for 6 but were generous enough to allow them to reach 262. In that context, they might be worried about offering a fresh lease of life to the misfiring England batters here. However, there is a small sliver of light for Lanka in the form of their top order batters —Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, the two century-makers, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka. If they can exploit the general waywardness of England bowlers then Lanka can hope of putting them under pressure, if not turn it into a victory. Their shock 20-run win over England four years ago might still serve Lankans a dose of confidence as some like Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Perera were part of that stunning day. So, another classic might just be brewing when two teams with so much shared destiny face up to each other. England vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match date The England vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be played on Thursday, 26 October. England vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match time The England vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will start at 2pm IST. The toss will take place at 1.30 pm IST. England vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match venue The England vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. England vs Sri Lanka World Cup 2023 match LIVE Streaming The England vs Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Network and live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar. England vs Sri Lanka head-to-head Both England and Sri Lanka have faced off against each other in ODIs on 78 occasions. England have won 38 of these matches, with Sri Lanka winning 36 games. Three matches have ended in no-results, and one game in a tie. As far as ODI World Cups are concerned, the two have played each other in 11 matches. England have won six matches, while Sri Lanka have won five. Lasith Malinga (4/43) and Angelo Mathews (85*) starred the last time these two teams met in the ODI World Cup, fours years back in Leeds. Sri Lanka went onto win that match by 20 runs.  Squads: England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes. Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Kumara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne Travelling reserve: Dushmantha Chameera  With inputs from PTI