Published: Jun 15, 2016, 06:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 15, 2016, 09:06 PM (IST)
Ireland and Sri Lanka go head on in the first of two One-Day International (ODI) at Dublin. Sri Lanka were recently been beaten by 2-0 in the Test series by England. They came back well in the last Test but rain played spoilsport in the game on Day 5 and was declared as draw. They are yet to play an ODI in 2016. The last time they played an ODI was on October 13, 2015 against Zimbabwe, which they won. These two teams have played only twice in the history in which they thrashed their opponents by a big margin. Their last clash was in 2014. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Ireland vs Sri Lanka 2016,1st ODI at Dublin
Sri Lankan veteran Farvez Maharoof returns to the squad after a gap of four years. The last match he played was against Bangladesh at Dhaka. The bowling all-rounder has a good ODI record with 133 wickets in 104 matches. Sri Lanka are going through a rough patch as they recently lost the Test series and fared poorly in the T20 World Cup 2016. But Sri Lanka have a few positives to take from the series. However, not including Milinda Siriwardana in the ODI squad came as a shocker as he has been one of the better performers for Sri Lanka in limited-overs cricket of late.
This will be the first time Sri Lanka will be touring Ireland. They will be looking to beat the minnows and get their confidence back. They are currently in a rebuilding phase after the retirement of Sri Lankan legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Lasith Malinga has been out of the side too due to injury. Sri Lanka had a terrible T20 World Cup 2016 as they went from defending Champions to getting knocked out in Group stages. Angelo Mathews has a lot on his shoulders with captaincy, batting in middle-order and as a fifth bowler.
Hosts Ireland have nothing to lose against visitors Sri Lanka as they will be back in ODI circuit after a long time. They too had a rather unimpressive T20 World Cup 2016 as they got knocked out in the Round 1. Their loss against Oman was the most shocking upset of Round 1. They are currently on 12th spot in the ICC Rankings. Even Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are ahead of them in the rankings. They should learn a thing or two from Afghanistan, who have improved at a rapid of late.
Ireland have won only six of their last 15 matches in 2015 and four of them were against Scotland, Zimbabwe, U.A.E and Afghanistan. The only win worth mentioning was the one against West Indies. They will be looking to prove themselves in the international circuit and start afresh. Boyd Rankin is one lethal bowler who will pose problems for Sri Lanka in Ireland’s conditions.
SQUADS:
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Farveez Maharoof, Suraj Randiv, Seekkuge Prasanna
Ireland: William Porterfield (c), George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Tim Murtagh, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson (c)
TIME: 10.45 Local | 09.45 Local | 15.15 IST
(Arun Rawal, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a daydreamer, movie buff, and cricket fanatic. He could not play cricket, so did the next best thing, writing for it. He loves to play the flick shot over square leg, and believes Sachin Tendulkar is God. His twitter handle is @ArunRawal93)
