×

England vs Sri Lanka 2016, 4th ODI at The Oval: Angelo Mathews vs Liam Plunkett and other key battles

England clash with Sri Lanka in the 4th ODI on Wednesday already having a 1-0 lead in the series.

Related articles

© Getty Images
Angelo Mathews has the highest runs from both sides in the series  © Getty Images

With the 3rd One-Day International (ODI) concluding in no result the 4th game in the five-match series has given Sri Lanka a good chance to level the series with England. In the rain abandoned match English bowlers ran riot amongst the Sri Lankan batting line-up once again, barring Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, who put up some fight. Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes have been in terrific form with the ball and will be eager to help their team seal the series with one match to go. Vishal Mehra ,takes a look at some of the key battles that will ignite fire on the field.  FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England  vs  Sri Lanka , 4th ODI match at The Oval

Angelo Mathews vs Liam Plunkett: This will surely be the clash of the table toppers as best batsmen in the series takes on the best bowler in the series – Angelo Mathews against Liam Plunkett. Mathews despite having a niggle in the 2nd ODI managed to stifle English bowlers and now is leading the chart with 173 runs in just 3 matches. Plunkett apart from hitting that massive six of the last ball to tie the match has been in impeccable form with the ball managing to 7 wickets in 3 matches himself.

Chris Woakes vs Dinesh Chandimal: The only thorn in England’s path to glory has been Dinesh Chandimal, who has time and again batted his team out of trouble. Chandimal has been a key component in the Sri Lanka’s batting cycle dishing out 151 runs in the series so far. Chris Woakes on the other hand, has been England’s most sort after bowler providing his team with wickets at the back end of the innings. Woakes got the better of Chandimal in the 3rd ODI not before he has done the damage making a resilient 77-ball 62.

Eoin Morgan vs Nuwan Pradeep: England skipper so far in the series has only batted once and will hope to continue his runs scoring form in the remaining two matches. Morgan played a gritty and studious innings scoring 43 off 47 balls. After an excellent Test series Nuwan Pradeep was expected to rattle through the English line-up but that was not the case to be, he has so far just picked up 2 wickets in three matches. Pradeep will be a bit confident knowing that he got the wicket of Morgan the last time they we faced each other.

Jason Roy vs Suranga Lakmal: Jason Roy has been a striking force for England this season, first the ICC WT20 and now the ODI series. Roy in the series hit an unbeaten century having an astounding average of 120. Lakmal on the other hand, has been good with the ball early on getting the ball to swing both ways with lateral movement. Lakmal has provided Sri Lanka with early breakthroughs 2 out of 3 times and will hope to deliver the same this time around.

(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @capturethecatch )

trending this week