After three T20 matches in which Sri Lanka were barely competitive, England and the touring side head up to Durham on Tuesday for the first of three ODIs as both teams continue their bid to qualify for the next World Cup.
The first task for Sri Lanka is to offer up a better showing than they did in any of those T20 matches while England will be looking to pick up where they left off in what is their first 50 over match in front of a crowd since they won the World Cup two summers ago.
England
This is the format in which England are at their most brutal. That is a big problem for Sri Lanka at any time but on a day where England will have more motivation to get the job done as quickly as possible with a certain football match kicking off at 5pm, they might feel the full force of an England side who are clearly far too good for them. England showed that in the T20 matches and when you think they are the world champions in this format we should be able to expect the same here.
England are brutal with the bat in this format but they are missing one or two key cogs from their batting unit which might make them slightly more vulnerable. England don’t have the greatest record up in Durham but the square has been relaid and the pitches have been very good for batting, which are the sort of conditions which the England team prefer as it allows their power batting to come to the fore.
Sri Lanka
This tour has been a mess from the start for Sri Lanka. You wouldn’t have thought it could get a lot worse for them after the T20s but then a video appeared with three of their senior players out of the bubble in Durham and they have subsequently been sent home and will face the consequences later. Usually a situation like this would allow a team to use the next man up policy but when those who were already in the shirts weren’t very good you wonder what is coming into the side.
It hasn’t been completely doom and gloom for Sri Lanka on this tour. A couple of bowlers have more than enhanced their stock and will pick up the riches that come from that. They will need to be at their very best and hope a couple of their teammates have big matches to have any chance here. If Sri Lanka do need some inspiration they can take it from the last time these two sides met in England, which was in the World Cup in 2019. England won the tournament but Sri Lanka won their meeting in Leeds by 20 runs.
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Team News
England were already without Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler for this series but Jason Roy looks set to miss the opener too. Dawid Malan is expected to open the batting with Joe Root coming back into the side at three. Chris Woakes and Tom Curran will join Mark Wood and Sam Curran in the bowling attack.
Sri Lanka will be without Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka who are all on a flight home after their misdemeanours. Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka are the men expected to come into the side.
Betting
I’m expecting England to make a fast start with the bat in this match. If they are chasing then they will want the match over and done with very quickly so that everyone can watch the football and if they are setting a score they will want to control the match from the outset. The one thing this England team don’t like is a bowler getting on top of them so I expect the openers to go after Chameera to show that they have his number rather than the other way around.
The runs line for the first 15 overs for England is at 85.5 and even if Chameera does bowl well initially he is probably going to bowl no more than five overs at the speed he bowls at so there will be 10 overs for England to climb into. This is a good pitch at the Riverside these days and Jonny Bairstow has already clubbed 60 odd here in the T20 Blast. Malan looked in fine touch in the last T20 so I think England will sail beyond that line by the time we reach the end of 15 overs.
Tips
Back England 1st 15 Overs – Over 85.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
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