Lanka T20 League 2023 

Match 2: GT vs DA

Preview 

The second match of the Lankan T20 League 2023 is all set to take place between GT vs DA at Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Monday, July 31. This will be the first game that Galle and Dambulla will be playing in this competition in 2023, and GT and DA will be keen on registering a win and getting off to a good start in the tournament.

Lankan T20 League 2023 is the fourth season after its inauguration in 2019. Previous all 3 seasons have been won by the Jaffna franchise and other sides will look to end their reign at the top this time in the competition. GT finished as the runners-up in the first 2 seasons while DA's best result so far is the semi-final finish 4 years ago in the tournament. GT and DA failed to qualify for the finals in the last season and will be eager to start afresh after the new auctions. 

Dasun Shanaka will lead the GT this time for the 4th edition of the league. The Likes of Tim Seifert and Avishka Perera will open the batting for GA. Galle's middle order will boost the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mohammad Mithun, and Minod Bhanuka in their playing XI.  GT has a strong pace attack with Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Richard Ngarva, and Lahiru Kumara who will look after the bowling department. Shanaka's side also has good spin bowlers like Shakib Al Hasan, Seekuge Prasanna, Tambraiz Shamsi, and Akila Dananjaya in their squad. 

On the other hand, DA is one of the strongest batting sides in the Lankan T20 League. Kusal Mendis-led DA has the talents such as Avishka Fernando, Dananjaya De Silva, Kusal Perera, and Sadeera Samrawickrama in their squad. The likes of Hayden Kerr, Ben McDermott, and Alex Ross add international flavour to the squad. 

DA has exciting young pacers in the form of Pramod Madushan, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando, and Shahnawaz Dahani in their squad. Dambulla also has a trio of Praveen Jayawickrama, Noor Ahmed, and Danajaya De Silva to take care of their spin-bowling responsibilities. 

Speaking about the H2H stats, GT and DA rubbed shoulders with each other in just 4 matches over the past two editions. Dambulla has a slight edge over GT as the side won two matches and lost one. One match ended up with no result between both sides. 

Match Details

Match: GT vs DA, 2nd Match, Lanka T20 League 2023

Date: Monday, July 31, 2023

Time: 03:00 PM

Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Pitch and Weather Report

We expect a good balance between the bat and ball in this match and the average scores to be in the range of 170-180 runs. GT and DA have a line-up of spinners and if the pitch aids spinners, then we might see a low-scoring match from both sides. GT and DA will look to chase down the target for this second match as chasing has been the norm in the T20Is off late. Batters are taking an aggressive approach and no target is safe nowadays in the T20 format.

Expect a cloudy day with a slight 27% chance of rain, while the temperature fluctuates between a comfortable 33 and 29 degrees.

GT vs DA Squads

GT: Shakib Al Hasan, Dasun Shanaka, Tabraiz Shamsi, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lahiru Kumara, Lasith Croospulle, Sohan de Livera, Ashan Priyanjan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Mithun, Minod Bhanuka, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Shevon Daniel, Mohomed Shiraz, Lahiru Samarakoon, Kasun Rajitha, Akila Dananjaya, Chad Bowes, Tim Siefert, Sonal Dinusha, Avishka Perera, Anuk Fernando, Vishwa Fernando

DA: Matthew Wade, Kusal Mendis, Lungi Ngidi, Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva Kusal Perera, Hayden Kerr, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Binura Fernando, Noor Ahmad, Sachitha Jayathilake, Janith Liyanage, Dushan Hemantha, Pramod Madushan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Lakshan Edirisinghe, Jehan Daniel, Wanuja Sahan, Kavidu Pathirana, Ravindu Fernando, Alex Ross, Treveen Mathew, Manelker de Silva, Praveen Jayawickrama, Ben McDermott, Taskin Ahmed

GT vs DA Probable Playing XIs

GT: Tim Seifert, Avishka Perera, Shakib Al Hasan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mohammad Mithun, Dasun Shanaka, Seekuge Prasanna, Tambraiz Shamsi, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Richard Ngarva

DA: Kusal Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Dananjaya De Silva, Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samrawickrama, Ben McDermott, Shahnawaz Dahani, Praveen Jayawickrama, Noor Ahmed, Pramod Madushan, Dushan Hemantha

Match Prediction

GT and DA have excellent depth in their batting and bowling units with a lot of all-rounders in their playing XI while heading for this match. GT has the advantage of experienced spinners that suit the conditions, but DA possesses potent batters to counter the spin weapon. DA has experienced batters who have vast experience in these conditions. We say DA to win this match. 

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