England vs. Sri Lanka: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Cricket World Cup Preview

England need a strong showing when they face Sri Lanka in Wellington on Sunday at the Westpac Stadium.

They can still qualify for the knockout rounds of the 2015 World Cup if they lose but another drubbing Down Under would surely be crushing to English morale.

However, such is the quality of the Sri Lankan team that England will really need to up their game to get a second tournament win at the weekend.

Read on for a full preview of Sunday's crucial Pool A clash, as well as scheduling, television and live streaming details.

Date: Sunday, March 1

Time: 11 a.m. local time, 10 p.m. GMT (day before)

TV Info: Sky Sports 2

Live Stream: Sky Go

Preview

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

England have been abject in the main so far at the 2015 World Cup, suffering humbling defeats to both host nations, Australia and New Zealand, in their opening two matches.

While they convincingly beat Scotland in their third group encounter—opener Moeen Ali scoring an exceptional century—it was far from a complete performance, with the middle and lower order failing miserably after an impressive opening stand, per the Cricket World Cup:

Eoin Morgan found a little form against the Scots, scoring 46 from 42 balls, but the skipper needs to up his game further against Sri Lanka having performed well below his best in recent matches.

Morgan is aware of the threat the Sri Lankans pose following their thrashing of Bangladesh on Thursday, and he knows England need to improve on their current form if they are to win in Wellington, per The Telegraph's Nick Hoult: 

"

Our performance is going to have to be really good and better than anything we have produced at this World Cup so far. Sri Lanka look in a good place at the moment. We have played against them a lot recently. I know they rely a lot on their senior players so it is a test for us up against some of the best cricketers, guys who have played 300-400 games. It will be a really good test and challenge the guys are looking forward to.

"

England will have to overcome their perennial problem of under-scoring in ODIs if they are to stand a chance given the quality and form of Sri Lanka's batsmen.

England often fall short of posting scores over 300 as they fail to accelerate in the final overs, an issue that needs to be resolved.

Equally, their bowling at the death must improve after consistently failing to restrict teams late on, culminating in the horror show against Australia in their World Cup opener when England conceded 105 runs from the last 10 overs, per cricket journalist Gideon Haigh via the Daily Telegraph's Richard Hinds: 

Sri Lanka's key batsmen have truck loads of experience and will know how to exploit England's bowling if it is anything short of perfect.

Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara have all already scored centuries in the tournament and pose a significant threat to England's chances.

After being thrashed by New Zealand in the tournament opener, Sri Lanka struggled to victory over Afghanistan before finding their feet in a 92-run drubbing of Bangladesh at the MCG on Thursday.

With their batsmen in fine form, key bowler Lasith Malinga also looked to be edging back to his best in Melbourne, taking three wickets for 35 runs.

Sri Lanka undoubtedly have better form than England coming into Sunday's clash, and arguably better quality throughout the side, although all-rounder Jeevan Mendis is currently injured, potentially a key loss.

England are under huge pressure to beat Sri Lanka, as another defeat would leave their hopes of qualifying for the latter stages of the World Cup hanging in the balance.

But vast improvements are needed if England are to claim victory, as Sri Lanka are a fantastic tournament side and look to be finding a rich vein of form.