England finish their brief tour of Sri Lanka this week when the two nations meet in the second Test match of the two game series, this second match coming from Galle just like last week’s opening Test of the series.
England go into the match knowing they only need to draw to take the series but with them going straight on to India after this they will be wanting to win to go there with confidence behind them. Sri Lanka must win to level the series up.
Sri Lanka
Given the position that Sri Lanka got themselves in on the first day of the opening Test, they probably deserve a little bit of credit for taking the match to the final day, even though England only needed a few minutes to get over the line on that last day. There aren’t many places in the world where you can only make 135 in the first innings and win the match so really the home side were out of that first game before they even got into it.
They put up a bit of fight with the bat in the second effort which was important and offers them something to build from but they are going to have to bowl better and be a lot smarter in the early stages of the contest if they are going to level up the series. The other thing they could do is keep 11 players fit. In all three Tests they have played this month they have been hampered with injuries which really haven’t helped them much.
England
England were not foot perfect in the opening match of the series but given everything that is going on in the world, and which went on in their camp with Moeen Ali and his positive Covid-19 test, you have to give them credit for the performance that they did put on. They were controlled with the ball and while they got lucky with a few wickets early on in the match they never let the pressure valve release and completely dominated the match from there.
If you were being critical of England in that first game you could argue they should have won the match by an innings but that is largely immaterial. England will want to win here but it might be more beneficial for them moving forward with the India tour to come for their opening batsmen to spend some time at the crease and get some runs in these conditions. The middle order and the bowlers largely put on a decent showing which is a confidence booster moving on.
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Team News
Sri Lanka are all set to make changes in this match. We know for sure that Kusal Mendis has paid the price for his poor form. Oshada Fernando looks the most likely to replace him and they are hoping to have Suranga Lakmal in their side to lead their attack.
England have already confirmed their side for the contest and they will be making just the one change for the match. They have resisted calling on the services of Olly Stone and instead bring Jimmy Anderson in for Stuart Broad.
Betting
I took the performance of the England captain Joe Root in the first game when his line was 100.5 and he had such an impact on the match that he ended up scoring 279. Most of that came through his majestic 228 with the bat in the first innings and while we can’t expect anything of that magnitude here, his line has surprisingly only gone up two points which makes me think he can be backed again to cover in this second game of the series.
50 of those points came through catches and in the second innings of the first game he got through 11 overs. He didn’t take a wicket but the fact he bowled that much would suggest he is a genuine bowling option here where a couple of wickets could make up for the shortfall in runs that may come along. In saying that, there is no reason why he can’t cover 102.5pts with the bat, especially if he has two meaningful innings. This pitch is likely to turn sharp by the end of the match with no rain since the last game. That offers Root a wicket taking option and also a catching one with the outside edge always in play to Jack Leach. Whichever of his three scoring methods he needs I think the England captain can cover for the second game in a row.
Tips
WON – Back J.Root’s Performance – Over 102.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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