Abu Dhabi: Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in a Group A match of Round 1 in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here Wednesday. Craig Young replaces Ben White in Ireland’s playing eleven while Sri Lanka are unchanged from their seven-wicket win against Namibia Monday.
After winning the toss, Balbirnie said, “It’s our first night game. Hopefully we can make use of the dew factor. We are going to have a bit smart, doesn’t matter if we bat or bowl first.”
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said, “Looks a really good wicket, I think our batters will score big. We have come with a plan for this game. We have discussed a lot about Powerplay batting, first game was awesome. Our confidence level is high after winning the last game.”
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Teams;
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector, Neil Rock (wicketkeeper), Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Joshua Little and Craig Young.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wicketkeeper), Dinesh Chandimal, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana and Lahiru Kumara.