Sri Lanka takes on Zimbabwe in the third and final T20I in Colombo on Thursday, January 18. The Lankans lost the second T20I and are now looking to avoid a series defeat. They won the ODI series heading into this decider. The match starts at 7 pm IST
Sri Lanka lost the game despite piling on over 170 runs on the board. Zimbabwe was the better team on the night winning the game off the penultimate delivery of the match.
Heading into this game they have a 4-1 head t head in five T20I matches against Zimbabwe. However, the side was pushed to the wall in the two T20Is so far and challenged by the African nation. Wanindu Hasaranga as the skipper was challenged in both matches and he now needs to avoid a series defeat.
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Sri Lanka’s subdued performance in the World Cup led the thinktank to change captains across formats. The selection committee led by Upul Tharanga named three different cations across formats for the national team. Kusal Mendis will lead in ODIs, Wanindu Hasaranga in T20Is, and Dhananjaya de Silva in Test matches.
The weather forecast for the decider in Colombo looks good. However, there is a negligible chance of rain with the weather forecast cloudy in the afternoon. All the matches have been played in Colombo. The series started with a rained-off first ODI and will end with this third T20I.
Sri Lanka Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe – 3rd T20I, 2024
Pathum Nissanka
Nissanka will open the batting. He scored two in the first T20I and just one in the second. He missed the ODI series with reports of dengue. He now has a chance to make amends in the decider.
Kusal Mendis (WK)
Mendis will open the batting with Nissanka. He scored 17 in the first T20I and just four in the second. The ODI skipper has a point to prove in the T20I format in the decider. He is inching close to 1300 T20I runs.
Kusal Perera
Kusal Perera is the opener but is slotted to bat at three in the lineup. He too scored 17 in the first T20I and was out for a first-ball duck in the second T20I. He has an experience of 65 T20I matches under his belt.
Sadeera Samarawickrama
Samarawickrama might bat at four. He batted at four in the first T20I match as well and scored nine in the first T20I and 16 in the second. With Kusal Mendis, Kusal Pere, and Samarawickrama, Sri Lanka have a good middle-order.
Charith Asalanka
Asalanka will slot in at five. He was the chief scorer in the second T20I alongside Angelo Mathews. He scored 69 in the second T20I and added a 118-run stand with Angelo Mathews.
Angelo Mathews
Mathews will recalled back into the T20I squad given his seniority. He proved that with a match-winning 66 in the second T20I. He will slot in at six. He has already played 80 T20Is for his national team.
Dasun Shanaka
The former skipper will slot in at seven. He scored 26 in the first T20I to win the match for Sri Lanka and scored just nine in the second T20I. He is inching closer to 1400 T20I runs.
Wanindu Hasaranga (C)
Hasaranga will slot in at seven. He took two wickets in the first T20I and was expensive in the second T20I. He took a seven-wicket haul in the third ODI and is six wickets away from 100 T20I wickets.
Maheesh Theekshana
Theekshana will slot in at eight. He will be the second specialist spinner in the playing XI as well. He took two wickets in each of the first two ODIs. He now has 38 T20I wickets from 40 T20Is.
Dilshan Madushanka
Madushanka will be one of the pacers in the lineup. The left-arm pacer has been taking a lot of wickets in international cricket in recent times. He took 20 wickets in the World Cup and bagged an IPL deal with Mumbai Indians recently.
Dusmantha Chameera
Dusmantha Chameera concludes the likely Sri Lanka playing XI for the decider in Colombo. He picked up one wicket in the first T20I and two in the second. Chameera now has 55 wikets from 54 T20Is.
