Pakistan put their Test demise behind them to draw first blood in the ODI series last week and now they will look to take a real hold on the five game battle when they meet Sri Lanka for the second time in the 50 over sphere on Monday.
The series has moved onto Abu Dhabi for the next two matches with Sri Lanka having to win one of them else they won’t be able to win the series when gets to Sharjah for its conclusion. If they can win this one it would set the battle up nicely.
Pakistan
Credit goes to Pakistan for forgetting what had gone on in the Test matches to focus on what was in front of them and put up a very solid performance. There is no doubt they were assisted in that by getting off to a solid start with the bat but in many ways that was always the challenge anyway because they are always competitive with the ball.
To be fair to Sri Lanka, they got off to a good start with the bat in terms of runs per over but Sarfraz is an experienced man, if not captain, and he didn’t let his side panic. The way they came back into the contest in the second half of the Sri Lanka innings was very impressive and a reminder of just how good they can be in this format.
Sri Lanka
The weakness for Sri Lanka heading into the series showed up in that match in Dubai when their bowlers struggled to contain the Pakistan batting line up. To be fair to Sri Lanka, Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik are class acts that even the better bowling attacks in world cricket can’t handle but if they are going to level up the series they will need to find a way to control them.
The other thing Sri Lanka will need is for their senior, and their better, batsmen to stand up and be counted. The likes of Kusal Mendis and Milinda Siriwardena need to improve their outputs especially when the run rate is not very high. Sri Lanka need their top order to do plenty of work given how well Pakistan bowl at the death.
Team News
Such is the confidence in the Pakistan camp in this format, Sarfraz has already confirmed that his side will be unchanged for this second match of the series.
Even a qualified psychic would struggle to guess the Sri Lanka team in this format of the game. My gut impression is that Thisara Perera will get another chance but Dushmantha Chameera could come in for a spinner.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium
The next two matches in the series will take place at the Abu Dhabi venue. This second ODI will be the 36th match on this ground. Pakistan have featured in 30 games here in the past with differing success. They have 14 wins to 16 losses. Sri Lanka have a couple of wins but four defeats from their six matches here.
Scores on this ground are higher than in Dubai but not by an awful lot. Anything going on towards 300 is a very good score here. The seamers usually get a little more out of this deck too which you would think will suit Pakistan.
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Betting
I think Pakistan will build on their opening win but if we needed a reminder that they are not worth backing at a short price then we only need to look back to the Test matches where they came unstuck. The handicap lines don’t offer much better value in truth so there is the side markets for us for this game.
That one is the sixes market where the line is 7.5 but that looks a touch on the high side to me. You wouldn’t say either of these sides are naturally blessed with six hitters and this is a pretty sizeable ground here in Abu Dhabi. With a wicket that can be tough to time the ball on I’m expecting the batsmen to get many out of the park. When you factor in the quality of the Pakistan attack that line just looks too high. I’ll ride the unders.
Tips
WON – Back Under 7.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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