Sri Lanka and England round off their ODI series on Tuesday when the two sides head to Colombo for the final match of the five. England already know they have won the series but if building form ahead of the World Cup is a big thing for them they will be giving this their all.
Sri Lanka also have to have an eye on the World Cup next summer so although this is a dead rubber in terms of this series there is a much bigger picture for both sides. There is also a Colombo crowd to entertain as well.
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Sri Lanka
Try as they might, Sri Lanka just haven’t been able to put up enough runs to put this England batting line up under significant pressure. They produced their best batting effort of the series in the previous match but it still wasn’t going to be enough even if the rain didn’t arrive when it did. If they are going to be competitive next summer they have to start finding ways to score 300+ regularly.
One of the reasons why they are going to need those sort of scores is because their bowling attack doesn’t look nearly potent enough, especially against the better sides, so there needs to be a clear improvement and a change of emphasis on both sides of the ball. The other thing which needs plenty of work is their fielding which has been poor in this series.
England
Given how they have not always been at their best in Asian conditions it would represent a very good effort from England if they can win this match and come out of the series with a 4-0 win. While they might not be playing the strongest opposition they have ever taken on they have still had to be beaten and England have been pretty ruthless in doing so thus far.
England have shown in this series just how improved they are with the ball in this format of the game. They have restricted Sri Lanka each time so far even though conditions are not necessarily ones which suit them. When you think of the amount of classy bowlers not playing in this series that is definitely something that bodes well for them.
Team News
Kusal Mendis’ inability to buy a run at the minute may well see him make way for this final match with Upul Tharanga a natural replacement for him. Sri Lanka might also want to get some game time into Dushmantha Chameera.
Given the brutal conditions the players have had to play this series in so far England might decide to give the remainder of their squad an outing here. That could see a return to ODI cricket for Joe Denly. Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett could also come into the side.
R Premadasa Stadium
There have been 125 previous ODIs at the Premadasa with Sri Lanka having featured in 107 of them. They have won 65 and lost just 35 in that time with only seven no results so this is very much a good ground for them. England have played here on 11 occasions and have just two wins to nine defeats so that doesn’t bode too well for them.
The wicket here is usually pretty good for batting but it often takes turn too so if the rain stays away this might be the best chance for Sri Lanka to win a match. It is a big if as far as the rain is concerned however which is less than ideal to say the least.
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Betting
Once again we can’t get too stuck into this match for the simple reason that the rain is going to come down at some point. There is a reserve day for the match but that is no massive use to us because it is likely to rain on both days but I will take my chances on one bet which has already been kind to me in the series.
Akila Dananjaya has been Sri Lanka’s best player and if England rest some of their big guns he could well be bowling at a bit of a second string set up which should help him pick up some wickets. He has a performance line of just 39.5 which looks very low given he took six wickets in his last match on this ground in this format. Throw into the mix that we’ve seen him bat and field well and I think he is more than capable of covering this mark.
Tips
WON – Back A.Dananjaya’s Performance – Over 39.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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