The first of five ODIs between England and Sri Lanka takes place at Trent Bridge on Tuesday afternoon with both sides looking to get off to a good start in what should be a much more competitive series than the Test equivalent was.
England
Eoin Morgan’s side will be looking to arrest a three match losing run in this format of the game although in fairness to England they didn’t do a huge amount wrong in the matches they lost other than drop a couple of catches and run into Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in fine form.
With big tournaments that England host fast approaching they will be looking to kick start a serious run of form now to take them into those events as genuine challengers rather than pretenders and hosts of a party. If they are to do that then they have to become more balanced and more economical with the ball.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka arrive here off the back of two easy ODI wins in Ireland over the weekend which will have boosted their confidence no end. They got exactly what they wanted out of those matches. They were able to give all of their batsmen time in the middle and their bowlers got into a rhythm of bowling well and taking wickets.
This is a younger Sri Lankan side than we are used to seeing on these shores but I would suggest it is a more fearless one, a side who are happy to be aggressive and look to clear the ropes rather than the graceful shot players of the eras gone by. Whether they can compete with the ball will largely determine how well they go in the series.
Team News
England will be without Ben Stokes for this series as he continues to comeback from the injury which kept him out of the Test matches. That will affect the balance of their side as Stokes is a top class batsman as well as a very competent bowler. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes could both feature but there may not be room for Adil Rashid.
Sri Lanka will be without their bowler Shaminda Eranga after he was recently admitted to hospital for tests on a heart issue. He had been banned from bowling anyway so he won’t play any part in the series. Dushmantha Chameera is also injured so Sri Lanka could be light in the seam bowling department. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga aren’t here either.
Trent Bridge
This will be the 40th ODI at this ground. England have played 28 matches here with 14 wins and 13 defeats with one tie. Sri Lanka’s record here is less glamorous with one win from five matches. Of the 38 completed matches on this ground 16 of them have been won by the side batting first and 22 by the side chasing.
We only have to look at the sort of scores that have been put up on this ground in recent times to know how the wicket has been playing. It has been a batting paradise but plenty of rain has fallen in the area in the lead up to the game. The forecast for the day is fine though which is good.
Betting
I’m going to kick the series off with three bets here. I’m going to watch the first match and get a feel for how both teams are playing and which tactics they are using before getting heavily stuck into the series but there are three standout bets in this match.
The first of them comes in the sixes department. Two of the last three ODIs on this ground have had sixes into the double figure line and the last two Royal London One Day Cup matches saw Nottinghamshire run up over 400. This has been a good wicket and the boundaries here are very short and with England’s new approach to attack at every opportunity I’m expecting the sixes to flow here.
Alex Hales has been in good form throughout this season. In the Test matches he ran up scores of 86, 83, 11, 18 and 94 so he’s been hitting this attack to all parts already. His last five ODIs have seen him score 50 or more including that century in the final ODI in South Africa so he clearly has a strategy that works in this format of the game. I fancy he’ll go beyond 26.5 runs on his home ground.
Finally I can’t resist a little dabble at the Top Sri Lanka Batsman market. I’ve already taken Kusal Perera to top score in the series but if there is a ground where Sri Lanka could collapse in a heap it is here where the ball swings and England go mad.
That happened the last time Sri Lanka played here when they were shot out for just 174 which would have been a lot less but for Kumar Sangakkara. It is the first game of the series so they might fall in a heap and if they do someone like Seekkuge Prasanna could capitalise. He is already used to the conditions having been over here for a while with Northants. He’s a big hitter who can score runs as we saw in Ireland at the weekend and at 33/1 the all-rounder is worth a small punt.
Tips
WON – Back Over 8.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back it here:
Back A.Hales Over 26.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Back S.Prasanna Top Sri Lanka Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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