After an up and down series the five match battle between Sri Lanka and Australia ends on Sunday when they meet in the fifth ODI in Pallekele. Australia secured the series on Wednesday with an emphatic win and are playing to protect their ODI ranking while Sri Lanka are looking to salvage some pride and confidence to take into the two T20s which follow next week.
Sri Lanka
Not for the first time in the series Sri Lanka’s chances were hampered by them being unable to put up a sizeable total and once the Australian openers blitzed a huge powerplay score there was no way back for the home side no matter how they juggled their bowlers.
With the series over it remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka can release the shackles and produce their best with the bat. If they do they will have a chance but there is a fine line before going too big and falling short so they will need someone of experience to guide them towards the total they need.
Australia
Apart from the second match of the series where they were ordinary with the bat Australia have dominated the series. You would have to say overall that it has been their bowling which has got the job done for them but even so get it done they have.
The good thing for them with the bat is while they haven’t put up the explosive scores we are used to seeing in this format they have had a few players contributing which bodes well for them should they need to put up something substantial or chasing something of that nature.
Team News
Sri Lanka have now lost their captain Angelo Mathews to injury which extends their injury list further. Dasun Shanaka looks set to come in for him and Dinesh Chandimal is going to pick up the captaincy in Mathews’ absence.
Unless the conditions really dictate it Australia are expected to be unchanged for this match. Conditions don’t always give the need for a second spinner so Nathan Lyon could be left on the sidelines.
Pallekele
There have been 17 ODIs here in the past with Sri Lanka featuring in 15 of them with nine wins and six defeats. Australia have only played here once in the past and that was a match that they won which isn’t a surprise with the wicket tending to favour the seamers.
Scores here tend to be on the low side with only three scores of over 300 in those 17 past matches. One of the reasons for that is the large ground and the other is that the wicket provides the seamers with plenty of assistance which makes for early wickets to be taken.
Betting
Once again I’m not going to go too mad on what is a dead rubber but I can’t ignore Australia in this match. The absence of Angelo Mathews is a huge one with the bat and the ball and I’m not convinced Sri Lanka will be able to overcome it.
Although a couple of the matches have been tight in terms of how close they have been to going the other way in reality Australia have controlled the matches they have won and I expect them to do exactly the same here. Australia only have to give up 2.5 wickets and 6.5 runs which isn’t a lot really so if they win the match, and I expect them to do that, I expect them to win it by enough to cover this total.
Tips
WON – Back Australia (-2.5wickets/-6.5runs) to beat Sri Lanka for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
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