T20 World Cup: Ireland opt to bat against Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie opted to bat first after winning the toss against Sri Lanka in their first Super-12 match at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Ireland will be high on confidence with their win over two-time World Cup champions West Indies, knocking them out of the tournament and will once again rely on the explosive batting of Paul Stirling to give them a good start.

Apart from the Namibia upset in their first match, Sri Lanka have been clinical with their performances. Their coming of age to win the Asia Cup earlier would give them the confidence to play fearlessly. "We're going to bat first today. It is a wicket we have played on before, so we'll try to get as many runs as possible. Last week was high pressure cricket for all of us, and to come through it is amazing. They have some world class spinners, we've got to counter that. We've got to play Afghanistan recently, so that should help us. We've got to be at our best to beat Sri Lanka. No changes for us," said Balbirnie after winning the toss.

"Nissanka is struggling with injury, so we rest him for this game. The boundaries on the side are shorter, and straight ones are over 80 metres. So that's going to be something to keep in mind," said Dasun Shanaka during the toss.

Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Simi Singh, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Kusal Mendis(w), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Ashen Bandara, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando, Lahiru Kumara