Toss Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs Bangladesh
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Pallekele.
For Bangladesh, Naim Sheikh comes into the team, as does captain Litton Das, after missing the last two ODIs. Their attack will be without the experienced Mustafizur Rahman, however, although they have fielded three frontline seamers – Tanzim Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, and Mohammad Saifuddin. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Risah Hossain are their primary spin options.
Sri Lanka are without the injured Wanindu Hasaranga, but have brought in legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay as a replacement. Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka both appear in the XI as well. But there is no room for Matheesha Pathirana – the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka’s squad. They’ve gone with tall left-armer Binura Fernando, and fellow round-arm slinger Nuwan Thushara, who tends to get more early swing.
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt & wk), 4 Naim Sheikh 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Tanzim Hasan, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mohammad Saifuddin
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Jeffrey Vandersay, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Binura Fernando