After a Test series which was every bit as one-sided as it was expected to be, Sri Lanka and India now get set for an ODI series in which the home side will be looking to be a lot more competitive in the five matches.
This format is much more to the liking of Sri Lanka but India remain a formidable force in the 50 over game too so there is the likelihood for this going the same way as the Tests.
Schedule
1st ODI: Aug 20 at Dambulla
2nd ODI: Aug 24 at Pallekele
3rd ODI: Aug 27 at Pallekele
4th ODI: Aug 31 at Colombo
5th ODI: Sep 3 at Colombo
Sri Lanka
This will be the first time we have seen Sri Lanka against what you would call top level opposition since they were beaten by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. They won’t need any reminding that they were well on top in that contest but at the same time they contributed to their own downfall so this will be a test for them.
Sri Lanka have warmed up for the series by winning four out of five matches against Zimbabwe but they need to guard against a loss of confidence after the battering they took in the Test matches. The good news for them is that they have the majority of their big guns available for the series which has to be a positive.
India
India ended up beaten by Pakistan in the final of that Champions Trophy but put that behind them when they went to the Caribbean to beat West Indies in an ODI series shortly after and they should be full of confidence heading into this series. That said they have rested some of their star players for it which could make it more interesting.
The Indians have developed an attack which is competent in all conditions and we know their batsmen excel in sub-continental conditions so they will be looking to pick up where they left off in the Test series. If they are to do that then they will get revenge for losing to Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy.
Head to Head
These two sides are no strangers to facing each other in bilateral ODI series. This will be the 16th time they have done so in the past with India holding sway with 10 wins to Sri Lanka’s two. There have been three draws. In Sri Lanka, India have three wins to two with a couple of draws.
In individual matches India hold a much more commanding lead with 83 wins from the 150 games between the two. Sri Lanka have won 55 and there has been a tie and 11 no-results. Sri Lanka did win their previous meeting in the Champions Trophy in June.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
I’m tempted to take Sri Lanka to win this series given that India have given the likes of Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh the five matches off but I’m still not totally convinced the home side have what it takes to win three of the five games.
One bet I do like for the series though is Angelo Mathews to be the top Sri Lankan batsman over the course of the five matches. We saw his class in that Champions Trophy success at The Oval in June and he batted as well as anyone for Sri Lanka in the recent Test series. He looks to have his batting issues behind him and I fancy he will pile up the runs in these five matches.
Tips
WON – Back A.Mathews Top Sri Lanka Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
