England and Sri Lanka Begin at Southampton, Both Missing Their First Choices
The first of three T20Is is at the Rose Bowl at 6.30pm local time. Sri Lanka have a stand in captain after losing two players to injury, and England are without three.
England and Sri Lanka start a three match T20I series at the Rose Bowl in Southampton today, with a scheduled start of 6.30pm local time, which is 11pm IST. The series moves to Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on 17 September and Old Trafford on 19 September, and is followed by three one day internationals.
Sri Lanka lost their captain before the tour started
Kusal Mendis was ruled out of the T20I leg with an injury carried over from this year's Lanka Premier League, along with the left arm seamer Binura Fernando. Pavan Rathnayake and Dilshan Madushanka were named as replacements, and Charith Asalanka takes over as T20I captain.
Kusal Mendis remains in the one day squad and is expected to lead in that leg, so this is a split captaincy by circumstance rather than by design. Asalanka has captained Sri Lanka before and is not a caretaker in any meaningful sense, but a side that changes its leader nine days before a tour is a side adjusting.
England are missing three
Phil Salt, Sam Curran and Jacob Bethell are all unavailable while rehabilitating. Harry Brook captains, with Jos Buttler keeping wicket, and Aneurin Donald has a first T20I call up.
England named these squads alongside a provisional group for the T20 World Cup, which explains some of the selection. A series in the middle of September against a side England expect to beat is exactly where a selector finds out whether a player belongs in a World Cup squad, and the players know it.
The shape of the contest
Sri Lanka's white ball cricket over the past two years has been built around spin taking wickets in the middle overs, and England's answer to spin in the middle overs has been to attack it. Neither side is likely to change approach for a three match series, which usually produces the kind of cricket where the result swings on whether one plan works twice in a row.
Pathum Nissanka is the Sri Lanka batter England will most want to remove early, and Wanindu Hasaranga is the bowler England's top order will most want to survive.
Our [player by player batting forecasts](/predictions) for this match are published for both announced squads.