Bangladesh
Match Complete
Sri Lanka
Show Full Scoreboard
Hide Full Scoreboard
A struggling Sri Lanka still finding their feet at the World Cup take on a fired-up Bangladesh outfit primed to make a serious run at the World Cup trophy for the first time in their history – if the weather permits. Join The Roar for live scores and ball-by-ball coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
Since playing their first ever World Cup in 1999, Bangladesh have played the role of plucky underdogs, racking up some noticeable upsets over more fancied rivals.
All that changed, however, with a stunning triumph over England at the 2015 tournament, which booked their place in the quarter-finals and ended the long infancy of Bangladeshi cricket.
With a raft of quality batsmen including wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal, a group of up-and-coming fast bowlers headlined by Mustafizur Rahman and the world’s best limited-overs all-rounder in Shakib Al Hasan, the Tigers are easybeats no more, as they showed with an upset 21-run victory over South Africa to kick off their World Cup in style.
Since then, though, they’ve lost twice to the highly fancied New Zealand and England, and badly need a win to keep pace with the countries around them on the table.
Sri Lanka entered the World Cup as a team in crisis- a new captain in Dimuth Karunaratne, a record of 24 losses from their last 28 ODIs and coach Chandika Hathurusingha hanging onto his job by the skin of his teeth.
But after being thrashed by New Zealand in their first game- their ninth ODI loss in a row – the 1996 champions bounced back with a gritty win over Afghanistan to end the drought, with bowlers Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep helping defend 201.
But with Pradeep ruled out for this match with a hand injury, and the batting unit more than suspect after losing 9 wickets for 57 runs against the Afghanis, they might be hoping the prediction for rain and plenty of it in Bristol throughout the day rings true.
Prediction
Is this the first time Bangladesh will go in as favourites against a fellow Full Member nation at a World Cup? Really, they should win here and win comfortably – if Sri Lanka struggled against Afghanistan, it’s hard to imagine them finding enough form to knock over the Tigers here.
The weather might be their biggest enemy- a washed-out game would be a bitter blow, and potentially cost them a vital point.
Bangladesh by 8 wickets/110 runs.
Can Bangladesh continue their rise up the cricket hierarchy with a win? Or will Sri Lanka channel the spirit of 1996 to make it two victories in a row? Or will the rain step in to ruin everybody’s day?
Tune into The Roar for live coverage and minute-by-minute updates of this World Cup group match, and remember to join in the discussion in the comments section below.
Game Information
Venue: Bristol County Ground, Bristol
First ball: 7.30pm (AEST)
TV: Fox Cricket (501, live)
Streaming: Kayo Sports
Betting: Bangladesh $1.67, Sri Lanka $2.20
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Kasun Rajitha.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Sounds lime a good timr to bunge some Netflix. Catch up on some shows.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
If Smith n Warner get booed against Pakistan I suppose its apt it'll be in Taunton
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
The rain in England reigns. And that's cricket rules. ---- Highly unsatisfactory. But better than @###worth Blewitt rules where the team batting first plays 2 mini games (50 overs pace, then mad scramble) and the team batting second has the advantage in knowing they go helter-skelter for their reduced overs
Scott Pryde
Expert
Yeah, and you watch now as Australia's game is on-off, on-off, on-off till 4:30am in the morning when they eventually finish 3 balls short of a result of something. I can't wait!
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The Raining King of commentary.
Rellum
Roar Guru
It was a brilliant effort by Tim.
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the call. You must be exhausted
Tim Miller
Editor
Fantastic. Great work. Well done, Tim. (Maybe 15% of you will get this joke, but I'm standing by it.)
Tim Miller
Editor
Anyhow, thanks for your company this dreary evening! We didn't get to see a ball bowled, true, but maybe the real World Cup is the friends we made along the way. 50% chance of rain tomorrow for Australia's clash with Pakistan in Taunton apparently, so hopefully we'll have better luck for that game. Do tune into Scott's live blog from 7:30pm tomorrow- until then, adios!
Tim Miller
Editor
Fair to say neither side will be overly pleased with this write-off, but it could be disastrous for Bangladesh. They need every win they can get to challenge for the top four, and playing a perceived weaker side in Bangladesh was a great chance for them to not only bank a vital two points, but also improve their mediocre net run rate. Mark my words, the weather is going to play a massive part at this World Cup. Imagine the uproar if India, Australia or England miss a semi-final spot because of wash-outs against an Afghanistan or a Sri Lanka?
VivGilchrist
Roar Rookie
This is now officially a farce.
Tim Miller
Editor
The second time a match at this World Cup has been abandoned without a ball bowled, the first time being last week between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. That makes this the first ever World Cup with two matches completely aborted. Yay? That's now three matches at the Cup where no result has been possible because of the rain, and two nights in a row after South Africa vs West Indies was rained out. A match I was also covering. Am I cursed?
Tim Miller
Editor
Aaaand it's official- the match has been abandoned.
Tim Miller
Editor
One of the great mysteries of Australian cricket that he hasn't been given more chances in his premier format but remains perennially in Test contention.
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
Excellent...I mean oh what a shame. Fingers crossed he's able to play every other team :)
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
Gayle but maybe I just like watching him belt the leather off the balls
Kiwikrs
Roar Rookie
Ahhh right, I thought they may have needed help understanding the DLS
Tim Miller
Editor
To bide the time over, here's a question for you: Who would be the first player picked for your World Cup XI? You're starting a team from scratch, every player is injury-free (i.e. Jos Buttler and Shakib Al Hasan are at 100 per cent) and you build the rest of the team around them. I'm personally torn between Shakib and Ben Stokes, but Virat Kohli is stiff.
Tim Miller
Editor
Forecast looking pretty grim for the rest of the day, I'm afraid. They still haven't called the game off, though, which I attribute to the eternal optimism of cricket in the face of the weather gods.
Rob
Guest
In truth Mitch Marsh is a far better alround cricketer than Stonis. ODI cricket is also the perfect place for Mitch Marsh. He is a far better ODI player than Test player IMO.