ABOUT THE MATCH
New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in a nail-biting thriller the other night to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. With just one more game to go, this third and final T20 international is now nothing more than a dead rubber.
Both the teams have been very competitive in the series which has produced back-to-back close encounters. The hosts may have suffered defeats on both occasions but they have not made things any easy for the Kiwis. They have stretched the visitors in both the games and have made them toil hard for their wins.
Sri Lanka will now be playing for pride when they take on New Zealand in this final T20 international. The match will be played on September 6 at the same venue – Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. Live telecast is scheduled to begin at 7 PM local time.
TOSS PREDICTION
New Zealand batted second in both the matches and went on to win on both occasions. Pallekele has offered good batting conditions this series and so setting a target can be a little tricky here. The toss-winning team, therefore, will probably choose to chase this time around.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
Plenty of cloud cover is expected throughout the game on Friday. However, the chances of precipitation are very low and so there should be a full 40-overs contest. The temperature should be around 24-26 degrees Celsius while humidity is likely to be between 79% and 84% during the match.
The first two T20 internationals of the ongoing series that have been played at Pallekele have produced high-scoring thrillers with 160+ having been scored each time. This goes to show how good the wicket has been for batting and one can expect similar conditions on Friday as well.
MATCH PREVIEW
NEW ZEALAND
- New Zealand faces a few injury concerns ahead of this upcoming SL vs NZ 2019 match.
- Martin Guptill and Tom Bruce suffered abdomen and knee injuries respectively in the second T20 international.
- While the latter’s fitness is being monitored, the former has been ruled out of this tour-ending game.
- Hamish Rutherford has been called up in the squad and he is likely to feature in the starting eleven in case Bruce is declared unfit on the eve of the match.
- All-rounder Lockie Ferguson is already out with a broken finger and the Kiwis will be praying that there are no further injuries in their camp leading up to this match.
- New Zealand has now won five out of the six T20 internationals they have played so far this year including the previous three in a row.
- They came into this Sri Lanka series on the back of a 2-1 win over India at home in February.
- The Black Caps have emerged victorious in both the matches of the ongoing T20I series at Pallekele. After taking a beating in the opening game, their bowlers put up a much better performance last time, restricting the Lankans to 161/9.
SRI LANKA
- Sri Lanka is likely to be without batsmen Shehan Jayasuriya and Kusal Mendis for this third T20 international.
- Both collided on the boundary while fielding in the second T20I and have picked up leg injuries.
- Danushka Gunathilaka is likely to replace Mendis. The hosts could consider going in with an extra seam option in Lahiru Kumara as a replacement for Jayasuriya.
- The Sri Lankan team management has decided not to call up any replacements in the squad for the injured duo.
- The four-wicket loss last time out was Sri Lanka’s fifth defeat in the six T20 internationals that they have played so far this year.
- After losing the one-off T20I against New Zealand at Auckland at the start of the year, they suffered a 0-2 series defeat at the hands of South Africa.
- In the ongoing series, Sri Lanka has lost the first two games – by five wickets and four wickets respectively.
- The hosts have had a good series with the bat and they have managed to pick up early wickets with the ball.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
Although both the teams have been neck-and-neck in this T20I series, we expect New Zealand to complete a 3-0 clean sweep.
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