Sri Lanka will look end their abysmal record against Pakistan when the two teams lock horns against each other in the ongoing edition of the ICC World Cup 2019 at the County Ground in Bristol on Friday.

Pakistan have won all seven World Cup encounters against Sri Lanka dating back to the inaugural World Cup in 1975. But Sri Lanka are optimistic after recovering from a crushing 10-wicket defeat in their opening match against New Zealand.

The performance of middle-order is a cause of concern for the Islanders as they have suffered two collapses already in the tournament. Veteran Angelo Mathews has been dismissed without scoring in both the games so far but is likely to retain his place in the line-up.

“He (Mathews) is a cricketer with a lot of experience and has faced similar kind of situations on a number of times so I don’t think it will be a problem for him to come out of it,” Karunaratne told reporters on the eve of the clash.

Highlights of Australia vs West Indies World Cup 2019 match

“We have some areas to improve in batting,” he added, whose team slumped from 144-1 to 201 all out against Afghanistan.

For this very reason, Sri Lanka are likely to bring back Jeevan Mendis to provide more steel to the middle-order. Suranga Lakmal is likely to be left out for this clash. The fact that Mendis is also a handy leg-break bowler, tips the scale in his favour.

Sri Lanka Predicted XI against Pakistan: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep

First Published: Jun 07, 2019 10:21 IST