Pakistan take on Sri Lanka without a host of key stars in final prep for T20 World Cup
Sri Lanka v Pakistan | 1st T20I | Wednesday 7th January | Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium | 03:30pm
With the T20I World Cup just around the corner (Pakistan are due to play in the opening game on 7 Feb), expect the warmup games to start coming thick and fast. Wednesday’s encounter between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is the first game of a three-match series.
Pakistan have won three of the last five T20Is between the two sides.
Pakistan are the world’s 7th ranked T20I side while Sri Lanka are ranked eighth.
Currently ranked fourth in the world Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka is the highest ranked player from either side. The highest ranked Pakistan player is sixth placed Sahibzada Farhan.
Pakistan are set to be without a host of their regular stars for the series with Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali all playing in Australia’s Big Bash.
While those players in the Big Bash have not been selected, several stars currently doing duty in the Bangladesh Premier League, including Khawaja Nafay, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Khan have all been selected.
Pakistan have yet to finalize their squad for the T20I World Cup and as such players are playing for their places at the showpiece tournament.
Sri Lanka have yet to announce their final squad for the series.
While for Pakistan this is their final set of games before the World Cup, Sri Lanka will follow up this series with a further three games against England.
Venue: Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Pakistan have never played a T20I at the venue.
Sri Lanka have played none T20Is at the stadium, winning five and losing four.
None of the nine previous games played at the venue has ever ended as a No Result.
It is hard to know what the skipper who wins the toss will choose. In previous games batting first has been the choice on four occasions while fielding first has been picked five times.
The team that bats first has won six of the nine games played at the venue.
The average first innings score at the ground is 143.
The highest score recorded at the venue was Afghanistan’s 209/5 in 20 overs, made against Sri Lanka in 2024.
The highest score successfully chased at the ground was the West Indies’ 180 for five in 19.1 overs, made against Sri Lanka in 2024.
The lowest score successfully defended at the venue is New Zealand’s 108 all out in 19.3 Overs, made against Sri Lanka in 2024.
Weather:
It is due to rain every day in Dambulla this week except for Wednesday – which is good news, because that is match day. Expect a partly cloudy day with a high of 27 and a low of 22. While the chance of showers drops to 35%, the humidity remains high. With heavy rain predicted on Tuesday the outfield may well be affected.
Form (most recent game first):
Sri Lanka: L, W, W, L, L.
Pakistan: W, L, W, W, W.
Key player:
Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga: Keep an eye out for Hasaranga who Sri Lanka’s highest ranked bowler and a good pick to be the games’ leading wicket taker. Ranked fifth in the world as a bowler, Hasaranga is also a power-hitting middle order batsman. With 90 T20Is to his credit Hasaranga has a T20I bowling average of 15.86 and a strike rate of 13.6 – those are outstanding numbers. With the bat his highest score is 71. If he plays, expect him to have a big influence on proceedings.
Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan: He is Pakistan’s highest ranked player at the moment, and he comes into the series in good form. He has been playing in the BPL where he managed 65 in his last innings (on New Year’s Day). He only averages 25,20 in T20I where his highest score is an undefeated 80. That 80* came little more than six weeks ago however, and it was scored against Sri Lanka. Farhan was also amongst the runs in other recent series with good scores against both Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Verdict: Sri Lanka
The hosts have home ground advantage, and they also look set to field a closer to full-strength side than Pakistan. With the likes of Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan, all missing this will be a seriously diluted Pakistan outfit. That’s not to say that they don’t have what it takes to cause an upset, but if the weather allows, expect Sri Lanka to claim the win.
