England kick off a busy year of cricket on Thursday having made the trip to Sri Lanka to compete in the first of two Test matches, both of which will take place in Galle. This series was set to start when sport was halted because of the Covid-19 pandemic so the fact it can now go ahead is a sign of progress.
Given how little Test match cricket Sri Lanka play this series is just the two matches which means whoever comes out on top in this opener will be guaranteed a share of the spoils ahead of the second game next week.
Sri Lanka
England might be beginning their 2021 year here but that is not the case for Sri Lanka. They have already played a Test match this year in South Africa last week although the result meant it wasn’t a match they will remember for too long. That tour was a bit of a non-event for the Sri Lankans with injuries plaguing them throughout it. Given how recent that series was it is likely to affect them here, as will a lack of preparation in what are considerably different conditions here.
Generally in these conditions Sri Lanka have the personnel to be more competitive, particularly with the ball. Their spinners offer up much more of a threat and that is important because as we saw in South Africa their seamers can be a little light in the ability to build pressure. The one thing Sri Lanka will need to do to get anything out of this series is bat very well so with that in mind it is no bad thing that some experienced players are returning.
England
This will be the first time England have played Test cricket since their summer. The first thing they need to do is focus on this series rather than have one eye on the upcoming one against India. I don’t think it is being disrespectful to anyone to point out that is the bigger of the two series but even so England won’t want to head there off the back of a defeat here, so this will be a good test of England’s mental strength as much as their technical ones.
It will also be a good test of where their squad depth is at, particularly in the spin department where some lesser known names might get the chance to shine here. The other unit who will get the chance to shine, and indeed prepare for that series in India to come, is the batsmen. They are likely to face a lot of spin on turning tracks here so they have a chance to show that they can handle these conditions and build some confidence for what is to come.
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Team News
Sri Lanka have named a squad of 22 players for this match and it remains to be seen which 11 they will whittle it down to. Importantly Angelo Mathews is in the squad and looks set to return after he missed the tour to South Africa. Dinesh Chandimal looks set to return as well.
England have not confirmed their side yet but we know that Moeen Ali will not be involved in the game as he remains in quarantine. Rory Burns stayed at home for the birth of his child while Ben Stokes has been rested. It looks like England will go with Sam Curran, Mark Wood and just one of Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in this series because there are plenty of variables in play here. There is the lack of preparation for both sides, the short and rushed nature of the series and then the other huge variable which nobody can ever be sure of in this part of the world which is the weather. Even the wicket we have to take at face value with no media out in Sri Lanka to give us some clues. We have historical data to go by but how relevant that will be given that this ground is going to have two matches in close succession. You’ve got to think the same pitch will be used for both.
That does tell me though that the wicket is likely to be good for batting early on which makes me think that the performance of the England captain Joe Root is well within range at 100.5. I say that not just because he is an excellent batsman who should really like these conditions, backed up by the fact he scored 70+ not out against a better attack than he’ll face here in the warm up match, but also because if England do only play two spinners there is every chance he’ll roll his arm over at some point. Root has made a century in Sri Lanka before so he may well be able to cover this in one knock with the bat but with the other innings on top I expect the over to land here.
Tips
WON – Back J.Root’s Performance – Over 100.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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