×

England vs Sri Lanka 2016, 3rd ODI at Bristol: ENG likely XI

England will play against Sri Lanka in the third ODI of the 5-match series at County Ground in Bristol.

Related articles

England will look to make it 2-0 at Bristol against Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI © Getty Images
England will look to make it 2-0 at Bristol against Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI © Getty Images

England will have no time to commemorate on their resounding 10-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the second One-Day International (ODI) as the 3rd contest will be played with a gap of just one day. The clash will take place at the County Ground in Bristol. Angelo Mathews and Sri Lankan brigade will have to come back harder and learn from their mistakes. England, on the other hand, will go all guns blazing and look to grab this one to seal the series. Eoin Morgan‘s side put up a clinical show at Edgbaston with the opening pair of Alex Hales and Jason Roy notching up hundreds in the chase, and the bowlers doing a commendable job too. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: England  vs  Sri Lanka , 3rd ODI match at Bristol

Conditions won’t be the same at Bristol though. The game is scheduled for an early start and the weather, therefore, might be different. England came back brilliantly after the first ODI, which ended in a tie. Here is what their starting line-up could look like:

Top order: Hales and Roy didn’t have a good outing in the first ODI. They failed to get England off to a decent start. But the belligerent right-handers came back in good fashion in the 2nd ODI. The aggressive duo were cautious early on in the chase, but started timing the ball perfectly after spending the first 10-15 overs. Hales was more aggressive than Roy. Once he got set, runs just flew off his bat. And, after he reached his 3rd ODI hundred, Hales went all guns blazing. He struck sixes at will. His partner, at other end, showed great footwork as well. He came down the wicket against the spinners and comfortably pasted them for boundaries. With 3 more matches to play, a big score due from Joe Root. ALSO READ: Eoin Morgan impressed by England’s ‘remarkable’ run-chase in 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka

Middle order: The English middle-order didn’t have much to contribute to the task of chasing down the Sri Lankan total, but they would have been happy to stay in the dressing room and watch their teammates put up a spectacular show. They did play an important part in the first ODI though. Morgan missed out on a half-century, and Jos Butler was terrific as he took the game away from the visitors. Jonny Bairstow might get to seal a place in the ODI side if he continues the form he showed in the Tests prior to this series. Nonetheless, England’s batting is in safe hands.

Lower order and bowling: England’s bowling was right on the money in the second ODI. They stuck to their plans and bowled in the right areas. Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes did a fine job for Morgan. Plunkett picked up two early wickets for the hosts. Although David Willey went for some runs in the closing stages of the Sri Lankan innings, he did manage to take a wicket. The spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid were excellent. They never let the batsmen scale up the run-rate. Rashid picked two key wickets as well. All in all, England didn’t let Sri Lanka get a score in excess of 300, as they managed to get a few run-outs in between. This meant that their batsmen could then ease to the finish line.

England, therefore, might play with the same squad in the 3rd ODI at Bristol.

England Likely XI: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid

(Karan Dewana reporter with CricketCountry, loves following and playing sports. He is a Team India fan and loves winning. Follow him on his twitter handle @karan13dewan)

trending this week