Saturday's T20 World Cup predictions & cricket betting tips: Bank on Buttler

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for Sri Lanka v England in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 8am Saturday

Best bets

Jos Buttler top England runscorer
2pts 5-2 general

Dhananjaya de Silva top Sri Lanka runscorer
1pt 9-2 bet365

Preview

England held their nerve to beat New Zealand, the team who knocked them out of last year's T20 World Cup, on Tuesday and they should seal a place in the semi-finals with victory over Sri Lanka on Saturday morning.

There will be pressure on Jos Buttler's side if, as expected, the Kiwis beat Ireland and Australia see off Afghanistan in Friday's Group 1 games but they should be encouraged by their impressive Twenty20 record against the Lankans.

England have won their last seven T20 meetings with the men from the Teardrop Isle, most recently a 26-run victory in Sharjah at last year's World Cup.

Opener Buttler scored the only century of the tournament in that match and, having led from the front with 73 from 47 balls against a dangerous New Zealand attack in Brisbane, he is worth backing to top-score at the SCG.

Sri Lanka should not be underestimated after winning the Asia Cup in September, and seeing off Ireland and Afghanistan in convincing fashion in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup.

They had Australia in a bit of trouble in their second Group 1 fixture before a blistering half-century from Marcus Stoinis sealed a seven-wicket win for the T20 world champions but fell apart against New Zealand's fast bowlers.

England's in-form quicks should be encouraged by the Lankans' collapse to 24-5 after 6.1 overs of their run-chase against the Black Caps and Sam Curran, who has taken nine wickets in his last three games, and Mark Wood, who bowled the fastest delivery of the tournament against New Zealand on Tuesday, pose a serious threat to the underdogs.

Curran is 5-4 with BoyleSports to claim at least two wickets for the fourth game in a row while Wood is the same price with bet365 to pick up two or more scalps. Since returning from injury on September's tour of Pakistan, the Durham speedster has had T20 figures of 3-24, 3-20, 3-34, 2-23, 3-34 and 1-25.

One Sri Lankan batsman who could put up some resistance to England's impressive bowling unit is number three Dhananjaya de Silva.

He started the Super 12 stage with scores of 31 and 26 against Ireland and Australia and made an outstanding unbeaten 66 in Tuesday's win over Afghanistan, a match in which no other player reached 30.

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