Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 1st T20 Preview & Tips – Pakistan backed for win over Sri Lanka in opening T20

Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in the third-place playoff at the Asian Games as they roared to a 63-run win.

Pakistan have won five of their last 10 T20’s against Sri Lanka with the other five being won by their opponents.

Pakistan will hope that they can build on an impressive run in the Twenty20 game after tasting defeat in just three of their last 10.

Wins over the likes of Australia, the Netherlands, UAE, Namibia, Sr Lanka and Bangladesh have come alongside defeats to India twice and England. Their defeats to India and England came against the two best teams in the men’s T20 game, meaning these were hardly surprising. However, their wins over Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were impressive victories that show Pakistan's continued development into a genuine force again.

Sri Lanka arrive in torrid form, while Pakistan have looked good. A win in their opener will make it three victories across their last four in the shortest format, and it would further boost their morale. While this series will likely sway back and forth between two evenly matched teams, I am backing Pakistan to hit the ground running as they secure a fourth win in five T20’s against their opponents.

Sri Lanka may have easily beaten Bangladesh in the third-place playoff at the Asian Games, but their 63-run win over their opponents has hardly papered over the cracks of a torrid run.

Their World Cup campaign back in February ended in defeats to New Zealand and Pakistan before they slipped to a 2-1 loss to the West Indies. They were then blown away in a 3-0 defeat to England before a 124-run loss to India at the Asian Games.

While they finished the competition in third, they only had to win one match after being placed in the quarter-final immediately and seeing that game abandoned. Despite a big win over Bangladesh, I am backing Pakistan to beat their opponents as Sri Lanka go 1-0 down with two games to play, thus making it 11 defeats in their last 13 completed T20’s.