England and Peter Moores will look to move on from the recent abysmal showings and begin their new era when they host Sri Lanka in the only T20 international at the Oval on Tuesday.
Where to Watch Live:
The lone T20I is scheduled for a 6 pm BST (10.30 pm IST, 1 pm ET) start with live coverage on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2 in India. The game can also be watched via live streaming online HERE. Live coverage will be on Sky Sports 2 in the UK, while viewers can also live stream the action HERE. Viewers in the US can catch the action on ESPN 3 while the game can also be live streamed HERE. Catch the action in Sri Lanka on CSN with the live streaming option HERE, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can view the match on SuperSport or live online HERE.
Moores began his second stint as England coach with a win over Scotland in Aberdeen on 9 May, but the new boss will know the real test begins with Sri Lanka, starting Tuesday.
Changes aplenty have been afoot, and England will want to show the rest of the world they are a better team without Kevin Pietersen, even if it was not entirely clear in the recently-concluded World T20, which saw them make an embarrassing early exit following a big defeat to Netherlands.
Moores has been roped in to begin afresh from the Ashes and World T20 debacles, and a win over the world champions will be a nice start. "I think a win would go a long way tomorrow and start off our season properly," said Eoin Morgan on Monday, with the Irishman taking over the captaincy mantle in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad.
"There's a huge opportunity tomorrow for individuals right down, batting and bowling, as well as collectively as a unit. If somebody puts in a match-winning performance against a side we're going to be playing the first half of our season against, it's going to go a long way."
England had very few positive moments in the World T20 in Bangladesh, but one of them was the brilliant win over Sri Lanka in Chittagong in the group stages, with Alex Hales starring. Morgan insisted England did not perform as poorly as everyone suggests in the World Cup, with a few things just not going their way.
"You can look back at our T20 World Cup performance, we put in some outstanding performances but never got the results," Morgan added. "That's incredibly disappointing as a side, when you do play some very good cricket but don't get the rewards.
"But then again, that's the nature of professional sport, just because you work hard it doesn't mean to say that you're going to do well or be rewarded for it. But again, we'll continue to work hard and to fight as a squad and hopefully those rewards will come along the way."
It is also a new era for Sri Lanka, who will be without their two talismans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The legendary duo retired from the T20 format after helping their side to the World T20 title, and new captain Lasith Malinga, who kept his role after taking over midway through the World T20 from Dinesh Chandimal, will hope the replacements can step up and make a mark immediately.
"We are a really happy unit, because we won the World Cup," Malinga said. "We are a young side, looking forward to assessing these conditions as soon as possible. We are confident we can handle all the pressure in Twenty20.
"We had a tough match against England in that World Cup. But the past is past. These conditions favour the home team. But we'll look to put them under pressure. In Twenty20, one over can change the match. [But] whoever makes the fewest mistakes in the 40 overs will win, I think."
Expected lineups: England: Alex Hales, Michael Carberry, Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, Harry Gurney.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga (capt), Ajantha Mendis.
