England end their tour of Sri Lanka this week when they play the third Test which begins in Colombo on Friday. The tourists have already won the series and will be looking for a complete whitewash in the final game.
Sri Lanka have shown signs of being competitive in the first two matches, which is more than many expected from them, they have one last chance to show their improvement and get over the line in this series.
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Sri Lanka
You have to hand it to Sri Lanka. They ended up taking a bit of a beating in the opening match although in the early stages they were more than competitive and then in the second game for long periods in the final innings it looked like they were going to achieve an unlikely looking run chase. They came up just short in the end but it was the sort of effort that a team can take confidence from, even in defeat.
The big question for them heading into this match is whether they can bowl England out twice. I think they showed in Kandy that they have enough to be competitive with the bat but we haven’t seen convincingly that they can take 20 wickets without letting England get away from them. That isn’t going to be easy without their main man though.
England
If you had offered Joe Root the position England are in right now before a ball was bowled in the series I’m sure he would have snapped your hand off. That is not to say that England have been perfect in the series but they have competed hard, worked hard for their openings and stormed straight through them when they have appeared.
There were plenty of doubts over whether England would be able to put up sufficient runs on turning tracks but they haven’t found that too difficult albeit they have relied on lower order runs once again. The real big thing for them has been the way their three spinners have been able to take wickets. Conditions have been favourable but they have still bowled well.
Team News
Sri Lanka will be without Akila Dananjaya in this match as he is in Australia having his action looked at. Lakshan Sandakan is expected to come in for him while Danushka Gunathilaka could also come into the side having replaced Dinesh Chandimal in the squad.
England have confirmed two changes to their side for this match with Jonny Bairstow and Stuart Broad coming in for Sam Curran and Jimmy Anderson. Bairstow will be their third number three batsmen in as many matches.
Sinhalese Sports Club
There have been 42 previous Test matches at this ground with Sri Lanka playing in all of them and holding a 20-8 winning record with 14 draws. England play here for the fifth time and have a win and a couple of losses along with a draw from their previous four outings here.
Some of the scores on this ground have been quite high but in the main this is a ground where mid-range scores and generally the ones that are put up. Suranga Lakmal has suggested another turning track has been produced so once again we could be devoid of the huge totals some were expecting prior to the series starting.
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Betting
I’ll continue the path I’ve taken so far in the series and avoid the outcome of the match and focus on the players instead where a couple of English performances have to be taken. Joe Root is the first one of those. He has a performance line of 100.5 which he could very well cover with the bat over two innings but we saw him bowl a lot more in Kandy and I expect him to contribute with the ball here too. He’ll be fielding around the bat as well so catches are in his compass and all things being equal I think he can follow up his 168pt haul from Kandy with another 101 at least here.
Moeen Ali covered for me in Kandy and I fancy he can cover 145.5pts here in Colombo. He is back down the order which I think will benefit him with the bat and I expect a decent total out of him at some point and then with the ball he should be just as solid and competitive as he has been throughout the series. He has put up totals of 183 and 150 despite barely scoring a run in the series. If he contributes with the bat he could sail beyond 145.5.
Tips
Back J.Root’s Performance – Over 100.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back M.Ali’s Performance – Over 145.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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