Sri Lanka and India set off in a three match Test series on Wednesday morning each believing that they can come out on top both in the series as a whole and in this first game in Galle.
Sri Lanka have been very good in home conditions in recent times while India haven’t lost a Test series since 2015 so this one is nicely set up. The winner of this will have full control of the series so we should be guaranteed a good match up.
Sri Lanka
The home side go into this match off the back of a win over Zimbabwe last week. The win was the good thing. The hard work they made of it was not so good but if winning truly does breed confidence then the victory should have Sri Lanka nicely tuned up for what looks like a much tougher task.
Sri Lanka look to be in tune with the bat, and they will certainly need to be if they are to come out on top in this series, but there are big concerns over them with the ball especially if the wicket doesn’t assist the spin of Rangana Herath. Often there is a bit in it in Galle for the seamers but are Sri Lanka’s good enough?
India
India may not have played Test cricket since beating Australia back in March but they have been quite active in terms of the cricket they have been playing having only recently finished a limited overs tour of the West Indies. The Indians come with a stereotype of being a limited overs side but that is no longer true.
They have a wonderful recent Test record which includes a series win in Sri Lanka two years ago. They will be looking to emulate that here although they do have a few injuries to contend with so it will be intriguing to see how they shape their side and indeed who represents them in this first Test match.
Team News
Sri Lanka will be without their newly named captain Dinesh Chandimal as he is suffering from pneumonia. Rangana Herath will lead the side in his absence with Danushka Gunathilaka potentially replacing him in the side.
India are without KL Rahul who is injured so Abhinav Mukund is set to partner Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the innings. There is talk of India playing the extra all-rounder which means that Hardik Pandya could play.
Galle International Stadium
There have been 29 previous Test matches on this ground and Sri Lanka are very strong here. They have 17 wins to just six defeats at this venue with six more matches drawn. India have just one win from four attempts on the ground.
Scores of 450+ have been fairly frequent in the first innings here but the seam bowlers are always in the game early on with the grass that is on the wicket. The atmosphere is usually heavy too which assists swing.
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Betting
I’ve already had a small go at India to win this series 3-0 so I effectively have them covered in that bet so I am not going to get involved in the match outcome until we’ve had a chance to see the wicket and how it is behaving.
One bet I like though heading into the contest is the performance of Angelo Mathews. The line is a very low looking 70.5pts which even allowing for the fact that he doesn’t bowl much these days is still too low.
Mathews is a truly world class batsman and now that he does not have the captaincy burden tying him down I expect to see that much more between now and the end of his career. He has two Test centuries against India and only last month he nailed a half-century against them in the Champions Trophy. Over two innings I expect him to get 71 runs if he doesn’t contribute in other ways.
Tips
WON – Back A.Mathews’ Performance – Over 70.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back him here:
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