After winning a rain affected opening ODI on Sunday, hosts Sri Lanka can wrap up their mini ODI series with the West Indies in Colombo on Wednesday. West Indies head back to the Premadasa knowing they have to win to force a decider in Pallekele on Saturday.
While Sri Lanka won the opening match they weren’t as convincing as they would have liked to have been in their run chase so they will have plenty to work on ahead of this match just like the West Indians will have.
Sri Lanka won the toss in Colombo in the first match and it was probably that which made the difference after the game was reduced to 26 overs. One positive for them is that Lasith Malinga never took a wicket and you wouldn’t think he will go the whole series without making a big impact.
West Indies fought hard to defend a relatively under par total and that will give their young captain Jason Holder something to be positive about but he will be hoping he has Andre Russell fit to play. The Jamaican left the first ODI after just five balls of his bowling innings with injury and is doubtful for this game.
Both sides will have areas of improvement. Both sides can bat a lot better and certainly Sri Lanka can bowl better. Sri Lanka are likely to be unchanged for this second match while West Indies could be forced into a change if Russell isn’t fit. Jermaine Blackwood or Jason Mohammed could replace Russell if he doesn’t make it.
Everything is on the line in this match which makes it very intriguing but as a general rule I’m not one for betting on the match outcome in Sri Lanka because as we saw in the first game the rain can have a significant impact but there are a couple of side market bets that I like.
The first one comes in the player performance markets where Dilshan’s line looks a little low at 40pts. Dilshan is in good nick in this format of the game and covered this line with the bat in the previous match on this ground. In all he’s covered this total with the bat in eight of his last 11 ODIs.
When we factor in that he could well bowl a few overs, overs of spin which the Windies often struggle to face, then he could easily score with the ball and even at his evergreen age he is still a dynamic fielder so catches are a possibility too. Put them all together and I’m expecting more than 40pts from the veteran here.
We also saw in the first match that Sunil Narine remains the class act in this bowling attack even though he has had to change his action. He took three wickets at the top of the innings and although a couple of others took two that was when the slog was on.
With this match being played at the same venue as the first one I think it is safe to assume this wicket will attract some turn like that one and so the 9/4 on Narine to be the leading bowler for the tourists in this match looks pretty good to me.
Back T.Dilshan’s Performance Pts – 40&Over for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back S.Narine Top West Indies Bowler for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Bet365
Blog cricket YTD: +14.84pts
