After a surprising result in the Test series, Pakistan will be looking for a bit of revenge when the two sides begin a five match ODI series in Dubai on Friday. Having won the Tests, Sri Lanka now go into what is traditionally their strongest format while Pakistan will be looking to show why they are the Champions Trophy winners.
Schedule
1st ODI: Oct 13 at Dubai
2nd ODI: Oct 16 at Abu Dhabi
3rd ODI: Oct 18 at Abu Dhabi
4th ODI: Oct 20 at Sharjah
5th ODI: Oct 23 at Sharjah
Pakistan
This will be the first time that Pakistan have been in action in the 50 over format since they saw off India to win that Champions Trophy title back at The Oval. Having been well beaten in two agonising Test matches over the last couple of weeks it remains to be seen what level their confidence is at heading into this series.
Injuries and retirements mean this will be a different Pakistan side to the one which won the Champions Trophy but we know whichever attack they put out they will be competitive so long as their batsmen are able to step up to the mark. That will be the interesting thing to see over the course of these matches.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka had a disappointing Champions Trophy back in June but it could have been so different if they could have bowled Pakistan out when they had them in big trouble in their final group match. They let their opponents off the hook though and paid the price when Pakistan went on to win the tournament.
Since then, Sri Lanka have looked very shaky in this format although it should be said that they are undergoing a bit of a transitional period and injuries have not helped them in that time. The last time we saw them in this format they were losing 5-0 to India and prior to that they lost a series to Zimbabwe so they need a big showing here.
Head to Head
These two sides have met in 18 previous bilateral series with Pakistan holding a pretty strong 12-6 lead but when you think they won the first seven of them things have been much more even since then.
We saw the evidence of that in their previous meeting in the Champions Trophy in Cardiff in June. That was a knockout match which became a bit of a cliffhanger which ultimately Pakistan edged over the line in.
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Betting
This is not a series to get too involved with from an outright point of view because both sides have shown an inconsistency. I would normally have liked Pakistan but their defeats in the Test matches are a concern as are their injuries.
With that in mind I will go with just the one player bet for the series and it comes in the form of the top Pakistan series batsman market. The player I like in the absence of Azhar Ali is Babar Azam. In fairness both openers have shown good form this year but I really rate Azam as a true class act. He averages a shade under 54 in this format of the game and I expect that to be maintained. He can lead the Pakistan run scoring in this series.
Tips
WON – Back B.Azam Top Pakistan Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
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