England have won the toss and have opted to bat against Sri Lanka in almost like a do or die situation. The last time the Three Lions defeated Sri Lanka in the World Cup was way back in 1999. The previous four encounters have been won by the Lankans. England and Sri Lanka have each won just one of their four tournament matches. They are trailing the top four teams by four points. The defending champions have two points from four matches, similar to their opponents, and are ninth on the table.
A win here will not push them too far ahead on the chart, but it may give them that tiny bit of motivation against teams like India and Australia ahead. But a defeat against Lanka will more or less shatter their semi-final dreams. England now need to win all of the rest of their five matches while hoping that the net run rate equation goes in their favour. Their big-hitting tactic seems to have fallen flat and their bowlers haven't really succeeded in keeping oppositions down. The team they are facing today have faced similar predicament. Kusal Mendis's excellent form had been one of the highlights of Sri Lanka's campaign but he has tailed off in the last two matches as well for the 1996 champions. England will be without key fast bowler Reece Topley. Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament and Angelo Matthews has been brought in
