The historic ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi ends on Wednesday when the two sides meet in 50 overs for the third and final time. Pakistan know they have a share of the spoils but will want the full series win.
Sri Lanka head into this final match of the series wanting to level things up and give themselves a bit of confidence and belief heading into the T20 matches which are to follow later in the week once this series is done.
Pakistan
You have to give Pakistan all the credit in the world for their performance in that second match of the series. They were wonderful with the bat, helped massively by the top class talent that is Babar Azam, and although they allowed Sri Lanka to get away from them a little with the ball the damage had always been done with a blistering new ball spell. A repeat of that performance makes them very tough to beat indeed.
The batting effort of Pakistan is what will probably come under scrutiny here. We know they are always going to have a huge number of bowling options so if they can keep on putting up 300+ totals when having the bat in their hand they can work to be big dangers at the next World Cup in four years as none of the players in their line up are that old.
Sri Lanka
I think most people expected Sri Lanka to come up short on this tour given the number of players they are going without, so credit should go to them too for not throwing in the towel in that second ODI, even when things looked pretty bleak. They found a couple of players who could show what they can do with the bat and if that inspires the rest of the order to dig in and score runs then they will have got something out of it.
The huge concern for Sri Lanka is the bowling attack. It looked weak heading into the series and it did not come out of that opening match looking any different. They are going to have to find a way to improve that area of their game if they are going to be a competitive force in the limited overs world once again. If they are unable to do that then they are going to regularly come up short I would imagine.
Open up an 888sport account and bet £10 to get a £5 free bet on ALL Wednesday Champions League matches. That is £40 in free bets!! Click the image above to bet. New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
There is no real reason to change anything for Pakistan unless they want to get some game time into some of their squad ahead of the T20 matches to come. I would suggest that is unlikely though given the difference in the formats.
It remains to be seen if Sri Lanka have any other options to play that would improve their side. It might not be the worst move in the world for the technically proficient Lahiru Thirimanne to move up to open the batting.
Betting
The first completed match of the series was high scoring and I fancy we will see another one like that here. Sri Lanka put up 230+ in reply to Pakistan’s 300 despite being reduced to 28-5 at one stage. I don’t expect a start like that with the bat again and the lower order showed how good the pitches are so if the top order don’t take confidence and belief from that then they may never will.
I also happen to think there is a lot more to come from this Pakistan batting line up as well. We’ve seen for a while that the Sri Lanka bowling attack is very weak and so on a pitch which is only likely to get better as it dries out after the insane rains of recent times, I expect the runs to flow here. The runs like for this match is 500.5 and I fancy that is a touch on the low side.
Tips
WON – Back Over 500.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
