The series might be over but the third and final Test match between England and Sri Lanka begins at Lord’s on Thursday morning with Sri Lanka looking to avoid a series whitewash and the home side looking to enforce exactly that.
You would have to say the series hasn’t been much of a competitive one to date but at least Sri Lanka showed a little bit of fight a fortnight ago in Durham and that gives hope that they might be able to make something of this match and at least take it deep.
England
England have been as dominant as most judges expected so far in the series and a win here would not flatter them in terms of the series outcome. There have been moments where the home side have been teetering but such is the confidence they have at the minute they have come out of it.
Their batting depth is a massive strength and we’ve seen that depth in both matches thus far with the number seven batsman making a century in both Tests to date. It would be a unique feat were Moeen Ali to complete the series hat trick here.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s tour was dealt some huge blows before they even landed in England when some key players were ruled out for various reasons and that has been highlighted on the field too where for three innings they looked completely lost and totally out of their depth.
Something clicked in the second innings in Durham where Dinesh Chandimal batted very well for his century and others were able to support him. On what is likely to be the flattest wicket of the three that fight and batting form should encourage the tourists a little.
Team News
England have resisted temptations to change their side and blood new talent. They have named an unchanged side which means Jake Ball’s wait for a Test debut will go on for at least another month. Ben Stokes is still missing.
Sri Lanka are likely to change a few things around. How many changes they will make depends on the extent of the injury that Milinda Siriwardana has picked up in the run up to this match. Whether he is fit or not Dasun Shanaka should come back into the side after he was strangely left out at Durham.
Lord’s
This ground has held many a Test match. In fact this will be the 132nd match played on this famous ground. Of those gone before England have won 51 and lost 30 with 48 draws so their record here is solid. Sri Lanka are still looking for a first win on this ground but they have drawn five times from seven outings.
The wicket here is generally really good to bat on. Since the new drainage system was installed a few years ago the deck has usually been flat and unless the clouds roll in this is likely to be hard work for the bowlers for the first time in the series.
Betting
I’m not really one for betting on dead rubbers so I’m not going to go too deep on this series. Both my main bets on the series to date have won so I’m not going to throw it all away and chase bets which just aren’t there and in truth there aren’t a lot of things I fancy here because Sri Lanka should be more competitive in this match but I wouldn’t want to put my money on it.
England put up almost 500 in Durham so I’m slightly surprised their runs line in the first innings of this match is just 415.5 particularly as this pitch is always flat to bat on. It won’t offer any demons and we know there are none in the Sri Lanka bowling attack.
I expect England to score more runs here not just because the wicket is better to bat on but also because Alastair Cook has got past his milestone so can play with some freedom while Nick Compton is on home turf which should come as a comfort for a man who has struggled for form in this series.
When you think Stuart Broad has a Test match 150 on this ground and he’ll bat at 9 in this match there is more than enough batting to ensure that England go up to and way beyond this 415.5 target.
I also can’t resist a small punt on Rangana Herath to top score in the first innings at 80/1. This should have no chance but it wouldn’t be the first time Sri Lanka have crumpled in a heap if they do so and having scored a 50 in the second innings at Durham we know Herath can handle this attack. I’ll pay to see how many he gets in the first dig here.
Tips
WON – Back England Over 415.5 1st Innings Runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back it here:
Back R.Herath Top Sri Lanka 1st Innings Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 81.00 with NetBet
Back him here:
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