United Arab Emirates, led by Amjad Javed opted to bowl first and make
use of the conditions with the hard, new ball against Sri Lanka led by
the ‘Slinga’ Malinga at Mirpur stadium.
The match will be a major test for UAE as they look to continue their
good form from the qualifiers, where they won all three matches against
Afghanistan, Oman and Hong Kong.
Some new match-winners have emerged, which could help them not be just another Associate participant among the big boys.
After the 2-1 loss in India, Sri Lanka have a chance to ease their
way into the Asia Cup by taking on the UAE in their first match.
| Sri Lanka v United Arab Emirates |
| Sri Lanka: 19/0 (3/20 over) |
| United Arab Emirates won the toss and elected to field |
The return of the captain Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Rangana
Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara will give the team a major boost as they
look to start gathering themselves ahead of the World T20, where they
have a title to defend.
Mirpur had a green top for the Bangladesh-India encounter but it is
unlikely that a similar pitch will be greeting Sri Lanka and UAE.
A surface devoid of grass and with slower speed can be expected.
There is rain in the forecast but nothing that should threaten the game.
This is the first encounter between Sri Lanka and UAE in T20Is, although the teams have met in ODIs in 2004 and 2008.
Sri Lanka
DSNFG Jayasuriya, TM Dilshan, LD Chandimal (Wicketkeeper), AD
Mathews, TAM Siriwardana, CK Kapugedera, MD Shanaka, KMDN Kulasekara,
HMRKB Herath, SL Malinga (Captain), PVD Chameera
United Arab Emirates
Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Kaleem, Mohammad Shahzad, Muhammad Usman,
Shaiman Anwar, Amjad Javed (Captain), Saqlain Haider, SP Patil
(Wicketkeeper), Qadeer Ahmed, Ahmed Raza, Mohammad Naveed
