T20 World Cup Match Prediction: Sri Lanka versus Ireland. 8th Match. Who Will Win?

The match between Sri Lanka and Ireland is the match that everyone in that group will be keeping a close eye on. Both of these sides won their first game and one more win will practically guarantee their place in the Super 12 stage of the competition. There is no doubt that Sri Lanka will be the clear favourites, but is there room for an upset here? Ireland, to their credit, has caused World Cup upsets before, so Sri Lanka will definitely be wary. Who will win? Keep reading this T20 World Cup prediction to find out!

Sri Lanka Team Preview

Sri Lanka did have a bit of a stutter in their game against Namibia, but in the end, they got the job done pretty comfortably. However, we do not think their management will have been happy with some of the batting from their top order, but their bowling was right on the money.

We think that Sri Lanka will do well against the Irish because they have the batting depth that is needed to score the runs that they will need to win. The irish do have a better bowling attack than Namibia, but Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, and Dasun Shanaka should have plenty of quality to counter the Irish bowling attack.

From a gambling perspective, if you are looking for a player to bet on to be the top scorer for Sri Lanka, then we recommend that you take a look at Fernando as he has been in fine form and can usually be relied on to score runs for his team. When it comes to the top bowler market for Sri Lanka, we would consider betting on Wanindu Hasaranga as the Irish have had plenty of trouble against wrist spinners.

Ireland Team Preview

Ireland will be ecstatic at the fact that they managed to dominate the Dutch in the first match, but this is a different kettle of fish. We do not think that the Irish batsman are that good against spin bowling and in the face of some quality Sri Lankan spin bowling, they could struggle. In our opinion, everything will depend on the type of performance that the likes of Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, and Harry Tector.

However, due to the unreliability of the Irish batting lineup, we would suggest that you stay away from placing bets on their batsmen. Their bowling attack, on the other hand, is pretty decent. Everyone will have heard about Curtis Camphor picking up four wickets in four balls against the Netherlands, which was an outstanding spell of bowling. We also think that Joshua Little is a very talented bowler that might cause a few issues for the Sri Lankan batsmen. If you are looking for a top bowler option, then you should consider putting your money on Little.

Toss Prediction

The team that goes on to win the coin toss will most likely want to bowl first. There is a chance that there will be some dew in the second half of the innings, which means that chasing could be seen as a very big advantage. The team that bowls second will have to deal with a wet ball, which can make bowling and fielding a lot trickier. It would be a big surprise if the captain that wins the coin toss opts to bat first.

Pitch Conditions

The conditions will be good for batting. The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium starts out good and the gets a bit slower as the match wears on. Thus, it is vital that a team gets runs in their powerplay, even if they do happen to lose a number of wickets while doing so. The team that has the better spinners, which is Sri Lanka in this case, will definitely have the advantage.

Our Match Prediction

We are going to put our money on Sri Lanka to get the win that will see them qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament quite easily. The Sri Lanka team has better batsmen than the Irish, and their spin bowlers are definitely of a better quality. We would be surprised to see the Men in Green win this match.

Our Match Prediction: