After an all too one sided Test series Sri Lanka and West Indies don the coloured clothing and move to more familiar formats this weekend as they embark on a three match ODI series.
Both sides are missing some big names for various reasons so we are left with skeleton looking squads but this should still be a much more competitive series than the Test one was.
All three matches are live on Eurosport in the UK and all are at much more watchable times with them all being day-night matches which should assist both with watching potential and with that betting potential so this should be a good series all round.
Sri Lanka go into this series having lost four of their last six bilateral contests and that isn’t the best form to have. They had Kumar Sangakkara for that time too but he has hung up his pads now and his absence needs to be accounted for.
If anything West Indies are in even worse form. Since 2012 they have only won series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Ireland in this format and they are desperate for a statement run of form. They will have had the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard for some of those series but none of them are available to Jason Holder in this series.
The first two matches in the series will be hosted at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo before the two sides head to Pallakele for the final match so two of the bigger stadiums in Sri Lanka will be used to grace these teams.
I don’t expect this series to be a total whitewash by either side but I think in these conditions Sri Lanka have to be favoured to edge the series so the 6/4 on them winning by one match has a bit of mileage.
West Indies will be better with the ball in this series but they still have to produce against the spin and the fearless Lasith Malinga when they have the bat in their hand and that won’t be easy so I’ll go with Sri Lanka to win the series 2-1.
With the likes of Gayle, Bravo and Pollard absent for this series there could be a chance for someone down the innings to deliver the top bat honours for the tourists and at a double figure price I’m going to take a chance with Andre Russell.
Russell has already blasted 89 in 54 balls in the warm up match for this series and we know that he doesn’t need to bat high up to score well because he is such a quick scorer that he’ll catch up with whatever is posted.
Russell has shown he can destroy all sorts of attacks be it spin or seam and if he has a big knock in him in this series and can add a couple of solid cameos to it then the 14/1 on him top scoring in the three matches might just land.
Back Sri Lanka to win series 2-1 for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Ladbrokes
Back A.Russell Top West Indies Series Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfred
Blog cricket YTD: +21.64pts
