Sri Lanka have opted to chase against England at Pallekele, hoping to replicate their dominance victory over Australia here to kickstart their Super Eight campaign.

It was six days ago that Pathum Nissanka’s unbeaten 100 saw the hosts chase down Australia’s total of 181 with eight wickets and two overs to spare. And with home skipper Dasun Shanaka is looking to utilise that confidence in this Group 2 encounter.

“We’ve been chasing well in the past few occasions and happy to chase again,” said Shanaka at the toss. “The boys are very confident playing here.”

England skipper Harry Brook – on his 27th birthday – again called for bravery after his side stumbled into the second stage of this tournament. The two-time champions have gone in with an unchanged team for the fourth match in a row, with Jamie Overton retaining his place as the allrounder. Brook’s only slight worry is a cut to Jacob Bethell’s bowling hand (sustained during the match against West Indies), which is likely to prevent him from bowling due to the strapping on his finger.

Sri Lanka meanwhile make two changes to their XI, with Dushmantha Chameera returning in place of Pramod Madushan, having been rested for the defeat to Zimbabwe. Kamil Mishra comes back in for the man who replaced him, Kusal Perrera, as the hosts shuffle once more in an attempt to find a functional opening partnership.

These two squads know each other very well, having only concluded a three-match T20I series against one another at the start of the month, which took place entirely in Pallekele. England secured a 3-0 scoreline, capping things off with a professional 12run win in a low scoring encounter.

As for the outfield, both sides are primed for a different evening of ground-fielding on patchy grass. Heavy rains have punctuated the five das leading into this clash. Overnight precipitation has sodden the edges of the field, though the middle parts of the ground had been well-covered.

Some are calling this the final before the final. India were the clear favourites anyway, and South Africa have emerged unbeaten from the toughest group of the draw. Their easy win against New Zealand has sent warning signs.

A budding rivalry that began with the last T20 World Cup final, which South Africa lost despite bossing it for 35 overs, continued as they had their own back with a Test whitewash of India in India.

Throw in high stakes. This is no longer a match in which only India stand to lose something although they will not want to be the XI that breaks India’s winning streak of 12 at T20 World Cups. South Africa stand to lose a lot as well.