Another emphatic win for Pakistan in the third ODI of five against Sri Lanka on Wednesday ensured they won the series with two matches left to play. The first of those two, what are no dead rubbers, takes place on Friday when the series heads to Sharjah for its conclusion.
Sri Lanka are on a horrible losing run which they will be out to end while Pakistan are on a bit of a roll at the minute so although the match has little on it from a competitive point of view there is a little to play for.
Pakistan
Going into the third ODI the only thing we needed to see from this Pakistan side to decide whether they are for real or not is how they would cope when they were chasing a score. In fairness they weren’t chasing anything substantial in that match but they went about it in the right fashion and it is hard to see a weakness in them currently.
Pakistan have now won their last seven ODIs which dates back to winning the Champions Trophy and they are looking like a top side right now. The interesting thing will be whether they have strength in depth to continue their good run when they get injuries. We’ve seen they have with the ball and we might see if that is the case with the bat over the next few days.
Sri Lanka
It is starting to become a bit of a mess in this format for Sri Lanka right now which is strange because historically it has been their strongest of the three. Luckily for them West Indies’ issues have guaranteed a spot at the next World Cup so they can take their time to get things right but at the same time they have to be showing some signs of progression.
There is the problem. If anything in this series they have got worse and that can’t continue for too much longer. If the same players keep underperforming then something has to be done about it. Apart from 30 overs in the second ODI they’ve had no pressure on Pakistan with the ball in this series and they have batted awfully.
Team News
Pakistan may decide to name an unchanged side to continue their momentum. Mohammad Hafeez has had his action suspected for being illegal but he can still bowl for now so should play.
Sri Lanka may be without Chamara Kapugedera who suffered a blow to the eye in the previous game. His potential absence may mean a recall for Kusal Mendis who was left out of that match.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
There have been an incredible 226 previous ODIs on this ground. A lot of them have been between associate nations but Pakistan have been involved in 122 games. They have won 81 and lost just 40 with a tie which is an excellent record. In contrast Sri Lanka have won 29 and lost 47 of their 78 matches with two ties.
This is the smaller of the three grounds used in this part of the world and as a result the scores are usually much higher here than in the other two venues. The wicket is usually good to bat on with bowlers likely to struggle in the second innings due to the dew.
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Betting
I’m not one for betting on dead rubbers and I hate guessing motivation and the like so I’m ordinarily going to leave the match outcome alone but there is one side market which I am keen on as the line on it appears to reflect what has gone before in this series rather than what might be to come.
The market in question is once again the total runs one. I’ve been on the under in this market twice in the series but they have been on low scoring grounds. This is a higher scoring ground and with little pressure on the Sri Lanka batsmen now I expect them to play with the required freedom to put up an adequate score on what is likely to be a wicket with few demons. The line here is 496.5 yards so we don’t even need both sides to make 250 to get this covered.
History suggests the two matches coming up will be the highest scoring of the series and with that in mind I’m happy to go full circle from the previous match and take the over here.
Tips
Back Over 496.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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