Bangladesh secured a victory over Sri Lanka in their opening match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in Dallas, Texas on Friday. Over half of the spectators at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, filled to capacity, left with smiles brought on by their team's win. To watch this match in USA’s cricket capital, Dallas, thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis gathered from around the USA. This win does Bangladesh's chances for advancing to the next phase a big favour, while Sri Lanka, already defeated by South Africa in their first match, now faces a challenging path. Sri Lanka, asked to bat first, were restricted to a paltry 124 runs for nine wickets. Bangladesh chased down the target with two wickets in hand and six balls remaining. T20 World Cup: Bowlers do the business for Tigers, restricting Sri Lanka to 124/9 However, the victory was not as easy as the target might have suggested. Despite a below-par score, Sri Lanka's total proved to be a difficult chase for Bangladesh. Bangladesh lost their struggling opener, Soumya Sarkar, for a duck in the first over. Soumya attempted to sweep a good-length delivery but top-edged it to Wanindu Hasaranga at mid-on. The next over saw the dismissal of the other opener, Tanzid Hasan. Nuwan Thushara bowled a full-length delivery that angled inwards. Tanzid tried to drive but was beaten by the late swing, resulting in his off stump being shattered. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto soon followed, also dismissed cheaply, extending his struggles. He was lured out of position by a wide full-length delivery and edged a sharp catch to Charith Asalanka. At this point, Bangladesh found themselves in a precarious position despite the low target. Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy worked hard to keep Bangladesh in the contest. Embassy Cup Cricket Carnival 2024 Kicks off in Dhaka Towhid launched a particularly impressive assault in the 12th over, smashing three sixes off three consecutive deliveries from Sri Lankan captain Wanindu Hasaranga. The first two sixes were slog sweeps off Hasaranga's googlies. The third six came when the bowler tried to adjust his line with a wide full-length delivery outside off. However, Towhid was ready with an inside-out shot over cover for his third consecutive six. These sixes significantly boosted Bangladesh's run rate, easing the pressure on the remaining batters. Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan departed quickly, bringing a sense of tension, but Mahmudullah Riyad finished the job with a brief but impactful 16 runs. Sri Lankan bowler Nuwan Thushara took four wickets, including two in consecutive deliveries. Given the nature of Bangladesh's victory, a crucial question arises: has this win boosted their confidence ahead of the challenging clash against South Africa on a tricky New York surface? Earlier, leg spinner Rishad Ahmed and experienced pacer Mustafizur Rahman bowled brilliantly to bring Bangladesh back into the game after Sri Lanka were put in to bat and got off to a fast start in the powerplay. Taskin Ahmed, who was initially questionable for the match due to a fitness issue, struck in the second over to remove Kusal Mendis for 10 runs. Mendis had started aggressively with two boundaries before being dismissed. Sri Lanka were 48/1 off 5 overs, when Mustafiz was introduced into the attack. He then took two wickets in the sixth and eighth overs. He dismissed Kamindu Mendis with his first ball and then Pathum Nissanka, who top-scored for Sri Lanka with 47 runs off 28 balls. Nissanka's innings included seven fours and a six. Rishad Hossain, the legspinner who is steadily gaining prominence in Bangladesh cricket, bowled a crucial 14th over. He removed both Charith Asalanka (19 runs) and Wanindu Hasaranga (a golden duck) in two consecutive deliveries, breaking a promising partnership. Rishad ended with figures of 3/22 off 4 overs, that earned him the man-of-the-match award. Sri Lanka's innings faltered in the final overs as Tanzim Hasan Sakib claimed two wickets in the 20th over, including the key wicket of Angelo Mathews. Mathews was caught at short third man for 16 runs, becoming Sakib's first World Cup wicket. Read more: T20 World Cup: Bangladesh aims to unleash full potential despite challenges

After a shocking start in the current T20 World Cup with a humiliating defeat against South Africa, Sri Lanka would look to bounce back in the tournament with a confident win. For that, they will face Bangladesh, who are not in great shape at the moment. Let’s take a look at the BAN vs SL match preview in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup.   Table: Schedule of BAN vs SL Match in the 2024 ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup Match Details Match Date (BST) Teams Time (BST) Venue 15 8/6/2024 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka  6:30 AM Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas Read more: Analysis of Australia Squad in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Preview of the BAN vs SL Match in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup Sri Lanka had a really poor and unexpected start at this World Cup. They were wrapped up for only 77 against South Africa in New York. However, their bowlers put up a good fight and stretched the game to the 17th over against the explosive Proteas batting line-up. Their bowling performance should give them some serious confidence and hope ahead of this game.  Additionally, despite the poor batting performance, they might still feel they have the upper hand against this Bangladesh team. Bangladesh had come to the USA early and played a series against the hosts as well for better preparation and adapting to the conditions. Everyone can argue about how well the preparation went. They lost the series against the USA 2-1, their winning game was against a USA side that rested some of their regular starters, and then had a hapless batting performance against India in the warm-up game. Read more: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Groups, Match Fixtures, and Venues Table: Sri Lanka’s Performance in the T20I Matches in 2024 Sri Lanka Performance in T20I Format in 2024 Played 10 Won 6 Lost 4 Tie/NR 0 Highest Run-scorer Kusal Mendis (303) Highest Wicket Taker Wanindu Hasaranga (15) Table: Bangladesh’s Performance in the T20I Matches in 2024 Bangladesh Performance in T20I Matches in 2024 Played 11 Won 6 Lost 5 Tie/NR 0 Highest Run-scorer Towhid Hridoy (263) Highest Wicket Taker Mustafizur Rahman (15) Read more: T20 World Cup: Bangladesh aims to unleash full potential despite challenges Both teams have the same problem but in different manners. Bangladesh’s batting lineup crumbles because of the failure of the top order. It has been misfiring miserably this year. Their opening pair went past 30 only 4 times this year and it was undone 4 times in less than 10 runs. The performances of Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, and Nazmul Hossain Shanto are not up to the mark. Tanzid Tamim has been a breath of fresh air scoring 3 half-centuries in his first 7 games. Still, there is a lot to correct in this batting line-up. However, their middle order has been clicking so far. Four of their top five run-scorers this year have been batting in the middle order.  Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is in the opposite situation. While their top-order is firing well, it is their middle-order who are not putting up performances. Their lack of batting depth is causing big problems for them. Even in the game against South Africa, they were at 31/2 from where they lost 8 wickets for a meager 46 runs.  Read more: Venue Guide: Stadiums of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 Both the teams won’t have much complaints about their bowling as it has been decent throughout the years. For Bangladesh, their batters are not giving them much to fight with. However, the potential absence of their two strike bowlers, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam, adds to Bangladesh’s woes.  BAN vs SL H2H Records in T20I Format and T20 World Cups So Far Table: Head-to-head T20I Records between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka So far Head-to-Head Records in T20I Matches Played Sri Lanka Won Bangladesh Won TIE/NR 16 11 5 0 Read more: Analyzing Bangladesh Squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Table: BD vs SL H2H Records in T20 World Cups So far Head-to-Head Records in T20 World Cup Matches Played Sri Lanka Won Bangladesh Won TIE/NR 2 2 0 0 Another sign of hope for the Sri Lankans is the head-to-head records. They usually have the upper hand over Bangladesh. Sri Lanka won the last 4 out of 5 games against Bangladesh. Adding to that, they won the latest series against Tigers this year in Bangladesh. The Sri Lanka team are yet to be beaten by Bangladesh in a T20 World Cup match so far. Read more: Squad Analysis of Sri Lanka for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Bangladesh can gain confidence by how the pitch is playing. There have been plenty of low-scoring encounters in this T20 World Cup. The game of Sri Lanka vs South Africa is an example of that. Bangladesh usually does better in slow pitches. Dallas, where the game will be played saw Nepal and Netherlands fight it out in a low-scoring battle. However, this field also saw the first game between Canada and the USA where the USA chased down 194 of Canada with 14 balls to spare. With their batting form, Bangladesh would hope this to not be the case in their game. Probable Lineups in the BAN vs SL T20 Match Most Probable XI of the Sri Lanka Team Wanindu Hasaranga (Captain), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Dhanajya De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, and Nuwan Thushara. Read more: Stars who can be game-changers for Bangladesh in T20 World Cup Most Probable XI of Bangladesh Team Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Litton Kumer Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Sakib, and Mustafizur Rahman. Key Players to Watch in Bangladesh Team Tanzid Hasan As mentioned before, Tanzid Hasan has been in the new era of Bangladesh's top-order since his debut. He scored 237 runs in his 7 games averaging 47. If Bangladesh want to put up a big total, Tanzid has to perform one of his best games so far to contribute largely to the team Tiger’s victory. Mustafizur Rahman Mustafizur Rahman is always a key bowler for Bangladesh in T20Is. With the probable absence of Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur is supposed to lead the team’s bowling attack. He has a good T20I bowling record against Sri Lanka with 14 wickets in 12 innings striking at 18.85. Without a doubt, he needs to be at his best in this game. Read more: Analysis of India Squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World 2024 Towhid Hridoy Towhid Hridoy is the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh this year in T20Is with 263 runs and a couple of half-centuries. He also scored 36.86 runs on average this year. Bangladesh needs him to go big in this game to have a solid winning chance. Key Players to Watch in Sri Lanka Wanindu Hasaranga Sri Lanka will rely on their skipper heavily for this game. He bowls in the middle overs where he is supposed to face the in-form middle order of Bangladesh. If he manages to do what he usually does against them, Sri Lanka will feel inches closer to a win in this game. Kusal Mendis Kusal Mendis is the highest scorer for Sri Lanka so far in 2024. Given that Bangladesh’s batting order has been clumsy, Sri Lanka might feel putting up a good total on the board does 90% of the job for them to win. And it does not need to put more emphasis on how much Sri Lanka would rely on their most in-form and productive batter to deliver the goods this time. Read more: Fixtures of Bangladesh Team in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Matheesha Pathirana Matheesha Pathirana has been in great form with 11 wickets in his last 6 games and coming from a wonderful IPL campaign. He was also the best bowler for Sri Lanka in the game against South Africa. He can give his team an early advantage against Bangladesh’s clumsy top order. If he does his job well, Sri Lanka have a real winning chance. Verdict  In the 2024 ICC T20 Men’s World Cup tournament, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have similar kinds of issues with their respective teams. However, the recent forms and history between these two sides give Sri Lanka the edge. As a result, Sri Lanka will enter the BAN vs SL T20I match as favorites in this enticing rivalry of cricket. Read more: USA vs BAN T20I Series 2024: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Series Defeat Against USA