Champions Trophy: Pakistan and Sri Lanka to play for last semifinals spot

Pakistan play Sri Lanka at the Cardiff in the final match of the Group B fixtures for a chance to go through to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy.  

The two teams are the lowest ranked among all the teams in the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka are on seventh while Pakistan lie at eighth in the ICC team rankings for ODIs.

India are already through to the semifinals after their eight-wicket victory against South Africa.

Before India’s victory against South Africa each of the teams had one victory in the group phase.

The group matches saw India beat Pakistan -- Pakistan beat South Africa -- South Africa beat Sri Lanka --Sri Lanka beat India and finally India beat South Africa to secure a semifinal spot.

Pakistan earlier beat South Africa after a good bowling effort saw them restrict their opponents to just 219 runs. Rain played its part as Pakistan won the match by 19 runs following D/L method.

Sri Lanka surprised India by successfully chasing down a target of 321, thanks to a wonderful batting display from the Lankan batsmen.

Pakistan have beaten Sri Lanka in nine out of the ten head-to-head encounters in ICC ODI events (World Cup and Champions Trophy) - the highest win % percentage for a team against an opposition among the top eight nations.

Pakistan have beaten Sri Lanka in all three ODIs in England, last of which came way back in 1983. Overall Pakistan lead 84-58 in the head to head ODIs.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also played each other three times in the Champions Trophy – in 2000, 2002 and 2006. Sri Lanka only won in 2002 while playing at home. The teams have never faced each other on English soil in the Champions Trophy history.

Fakhar Zaman was able to provide some much needed aggression at the top of the order in this tournament but Ahmed Shezad has had lackluster outings with the bat for Pakistan.

Azhar Ali and Mohammed Hafeez have struggled to score their runs quickly which has burdened the middle-order duo of Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed.

Kusal Medis is the man in form for Sri Lanka. His fantastic innings of 89 runs saw Sri Lanka chase down a massive target. He can be a bit tentative – especially early on and Pakistan may look to capitalize on that factor.

Sri Lanka have flown in Dhananjaya de Silva to replace Kusal Perera after the latter suffered a hamstring injury in the game against India. Upul Tharanga remains suspended for one more game.

Form Guide

Sri Lanka WLWLL

Pakistan WLWWL

Pakistan have a 0.81 win-loss ratio in ODIs since 2015 with 17 victories and 21 defeats. Sri Lanka have an even worse record with a win-loss ratio of 0.67, they have 14 victories and 21 defeats.

No win for Sri Lanka at Cardiff in ODIs from three matches, while Pakistan have registered one win from same number of games played at this venue.

301 average total at The Oval since 2015 World Cup for side batting first. For sides chasing the corresponding number is 273.

Shoaib Malik will be representing Pakistan in his 250th ODI. He will become the 10th player from Pakistan and the 42nd cricketer overall to reach this landmark in his career. Shoaib Malik also needs 75 runs to reach 100-run mark against Sri Lanka in ODIs. He will become the 11th Pakistani to achieve this milestone.

Nuwan Kulasekara needs one more wicket to complete 200 wickets in ODIs. He will become the 5th Sri Lankan bowler to reach the landmark, after Murali (523), Vaas (399), Jayasuriya (320) and Malinga (291).