England took the lead in their ongoing ODI series with Sri Lanka on Saturday when they dominated a match which was ultimately truncated by rain and so the hosts will be looking to get back into the series when the two sides meet again on Wednesday.
The roadshow rolls into Kandy for the third match with the home side knowing that they have to win this match if they want to have a chance of winning the series. England will guarantee themselves a share of the spoils if they come out on top again.
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Sri Lanka
I thought it was a much better showing from Sri Lanka with the ball and in the field in the previous match but they found out what most sides in world cricket have had pointed out to them in that England bat deep and are hard to restrict. It is very much a positive that Lasith Malinga looks to be in the form of old as they can at least build their bowling attack around him again.
There clearly needs to be an improvement with the bat for Sri Lanka if they are to get back into the series. Their top order really needs to stand up although they are going to be facing a couple of top class seamers so that won’t be easy. We saw signs in the last game that the lower order of the home side will get them home if given the platform to do so but the stage needs to be set a lot better.
England
There were positives and negatives for England in that last match. The positives were obviously the form of their engine room of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan while if you was being picky the failure of Jason Roy was not great and Jonny Bairstow never truly convinced either. England’s batting depth showed why they are such a tough side to beat in this format of the game.
The other major positive for England was the first bowl in ODI cricket of Olly Stone. He took to the level magnificently well and if we consider there is every chance he will come on for the run England could have a real star on their hands. The spinners did their job and there was plenty more to come from the tourists with the ball so they are in a decent place right now.
Team News
Kusal Perera is out for this match having strained a quad and that means that Sadeera Samarawickrama will come into the side for the first time in 10 months. That is likely to be the only change for the hosts.
England will be forced into a change of their own with Liam Dawson having picked up an injury which will keep him out of the remainder of the series. Joe Denly has been named as his replacement in the squad but it is Tom Curran who is expected to be picked in his place.
Pallekele International Stadium
There have been 22 previous ODIs at this venue in Kandy and Sri Lanka have been involved in 20 of them. They have an identical record of 10 wins and 10 defeats while England also have a 50% record on this ground too. They have a win and a loss from their two matches here.
The pitch at this venue has been good in recent times. When South Africa played a couple of matches on this ground recently the first innings went beyond 300 runs on both occasions. One thing which could hamper both sides is the forecast. It is bleak to say the least.
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Betting
In keeping with the rest of the series I’m not going to go mad for bets in this match. The chances are there won’t be many markets that are not voided if the forecasted rain arrives so I don’t want to waste time lining up a load of bets for no reward. I will go with one though in the hope the rain abates long enough for it to land.
That is the performance of Thisara Perera. He comes into this match off the back of totalling 64 in the previous ODI and he’s now on a ground where he has already gone well recently. In August against South Africa, Perera made 16 and took four wickets in one game and scored 51* and took two wickets in the other. He has a performance line of 41 in this match and with a six for on the ground and a 65 with the bat he clearly likes Kandy. I’ll take the over here.
Tips
VOID – Back T.Perera’s Performance – Over 41.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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