After holding their own against Australia, Sri Lanka now take on Pakistan in two Test matches, the first of which begins in Galle on Friday in a match which suddenly carries plenty of significance to the World Test Championship.
These two sides sit third and fourth in that table heading into this match and with only the top two progressing to the final next summer, one of them is going to do their chances no harm while the other will leave themselves with work to do.
Sri Lanka
After being heavily beaten by Australia in the first match of their recent series, Sri Lanka deserve a heap of credit for bouncing back and winning in style in the second game to claim a famous draw. Conditions certainly benefitted them in the second game in Galle, as they will hope they will in this opening match too, but you still have to take advantage of that and they did. It was a first Test win for a relatively young side under new coach Chris Silverwood.
The task at hand now is to prove that victory was no fluke. If they can back that up with another win here not only will it benefit their World Test Championship hopes but it would show the progress they are making and the potential they have. If they are going to win this match then you would imagine they will need their spinners to stand up and be counted, although it could be argued the double century of Dinesh Chandimal was as important as the wickets from the spinners in the win over Australia.
Pakistan
This will be the first time Pakistan have been in Test action since they were beaten 1-0 at home by Australia. That was a big series for Pakistan as it was the first time one of the exceptionally big nations had played Test cricket in the country for quite some time so they can be forgiven for coming up short in that series, although on another day they might have sneaked a win along the way in that series.
This will feel much more normal for Pakistan. Pakistan have a wealth of talent at their disposal but the key is that their big performers deliver good performances and don’t just leave it to someone else to get the side in a good position. If there is a doubt it might be that the seamer depth is the strength of their bowling attack and they are likely to encounter spinning conditions here. That means the batters might need to show up and put time into the game.
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Team News
Sri Lanka are expected to bring Dhananjaya de Silva back into their side for this opening match but they will once again be without Pathum Nissanka who hasn’t recovered from Covid-19. De Silva is expected to replace Kamindu Mendis.
Pakistan are going to give a debut to allrounder Agha Salman while Yasir Shah makes his return from injury. There is also expected to be a recall for Mohammad Nawaz with Naseem Shah getting the third seamer spot.
Betting
Dhananjaya de Silva has become a very good batter at international level and when you consider that he will also bowl a fair amount of spin in this match as well his performance target looks very appealing at 86.5, a total where it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise in the world if he covers it with the bat alone. He already has a century in Test cricket against Pakistan and averages a nudge over 40 with the bat on home soil and that average is improving not fading.
His bowling is improving all the time and if one of the Sri Lanka spinners go around the park then he might get even more overs to take advantage of so I expect him to be heavily involved in this match throughout its entirety. Dhananjaya made 155* against West Indies on this ground last year so he has very good memories of it and the conditions should allow him to be a major player in the contest. I’ll take the over on his performance.
Tips
Back D.de Silva’s Performance – Over 86.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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