Namibia made two changes to the side that won their most recent T20I, bringing in batter Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton and left-arm seamer Ruben Trumpelmann
Toss Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs Namibia
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field first in their T20 World Cup opener, against Namibia. Captain Dasun Shanaka said it was the likelihood of dew forming later in the evening in Abu Dhabi that prompted his decision. Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said his team was happy to bat first.
Namibia also made two changes to the side that won their most recent T20I, against Papua New Guinea. Batter Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton comes into the side, replacing Ben Shikongo. And left-arm seamer Ruben Trumpelmann is in the XI, at the expense of Michael van Lingen.
Sri Lanka’s XI, meanwhile, held few surprises save the omission of Dhananjaya de Silva. Instead of fielding six batters in addition to their three allrounders (Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne, and Wanindu Hasaranga), Sri Lanka have brought in the pace of Lahiru Kumara to bolster their bowling. Allsorts spinner Maheesh Theekshana is in the XI ahead of Akila Dananjaya.
Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal make up the top three.
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Avishka Fernando, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Lahiru Kumara
Namibia: 1 Stephan Baard, 2 Zane Green (wk), 3 Craig Williams, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 David Wiese, 6 JJ Smit, 7 Pikky Ya France, 8 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 9 Jan Frylinck, 10 Ruben Trumpelmann, 11 Bernard Scholtz
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf