King of Stats – all the numbers on England’s must win T20 Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka head into this game with England knowing a win will see them make the semi-finals, while the defending champions could end up on the plane home even if they manage to topple the hosts in Pallekele.

England are slight outsiders in this one at 5/4, but defeat could still see them progress with so much resting on the West Indies v New Zealand clash which it follows.

With the fate of Andy Flower’s side very much undecided, we’ve thrown together a few stats to help you make your mind up about how you’re going to take the bookies’ money.

• 31.5 – Mahela Jayawardene’s average in four World t20 games – back him to score over 23.5 runs at 5/6.

• 6 – the number of ducks amassed by Luke Wright in t20 international cricket; more than any other player – it’s 5/6 that Kumar Sangakkara outscores him with a -0.5 handicap.

• 49 – the amount of t20 international wickets Graeme Swann has racked up in 38 appearances – he’s a 13/8 shot to send two or more batsman back to the pavilion here.

• 7 – Tillakaratne Dilshan’s total number of t20 international half-centuries – 11/4 says he’ll notch one against the Three Lions.

• 9 – the amount of wickets taken by Ajantha Mendis in three matches in the 2012 World t20 – he’s 10/11 to take more scalps than Swann in this one.

• 6 – the number of times the Sri Lankan opening batsman have been outscored with a negative handicap of -4.5 applied to their total in the 10 matches preceding this – back England to make it seven in 11 at 5/6.

• 23 – Craig Kieswetter’s total number of maximums hit in 25 t20’s for England – 11/8 available for him to hit more than 0.5 looks great value.

• 104 – the number of fours scored by Sangakkara in 39 international t20 matches, averaging just over 2.6 per game – back him to score fewer than 3.5 at 4/6.

With England’s difficulties against the slow ball, expect Mendis to pick up a few wickets here, while Jayawardene is a level-head at the top of the order, allowing Dilshan to do the slogging. This makes his target of 23.5 very achievable and these two bets the best of the lot.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date