2019 Cricket World Cup: Sri Lanka faces tough battle against England

England are placed comfortably at the second spot with four wins while Sri Lanka are at sixth spot with four points.

Harnessing their skills: Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes bend their backs at a practice on Thursday.

Riding high on confidence after a big win against Afghanistan, England will look to keep the momentum going when it faces Sri Lanka in a World Cup fixture on Friday.

The Eoin Morgan-led side is currently second on the table with eight points from five outings. Another win will bring it closer to the semifinals. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is four points behind.

Fire at the top

At the iconic Headingley — which hosts its first game of the tournament — all eyes will be on the England captain. Morgan played a solid knock of 146 against Afghanistan at Old Trafford on Tuesday, slamming 17 sixes, the maximum by anyone in ODI cricket.

England — one of the tournament favourites — has fared well in every department so far.

In the absence of regular opener, Jason Roy, owing to a hamstring injury, the onus will be on Jonny Bairtstow, Joe Root and Morgan to fire at the top. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler add depth to the line-up.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is struggling. So far, it has won only one of five games, but received a point each from two no results.

Though the side is hanging in there, it now faces a far superior opponent. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne — who has been consistent with the bat, amassing 179 runs in three innings — needs to inspire the rest of the team. It will be interesting to see how the side tackles a star-studded England pace attack, which has Mark Woods and Jofra Archer in its ranks.

With just four games left, Sri Lanka desperately needs to improve its performance if it has to make the last-four stage. A lot also would depend on the pace attack — spearheaded by the seasoned Lasith Malinga, who has so far scalped four.

Run feast likely

Before the World Cup, the venue hosted the fifth and final ODI between England and Pakistan — which witnessed a 350-plus total, successfully defended by England.

That raises hopes of a run feast on a day that promises to be bright and sunny, with some clouds hovering around.

Squads:

England Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes,James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Sri Lanka Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.

Match starts at 3pm (IST).