England have entered 15 days into the Sri Lankan tour. Lost three games and won a solitary rain-hit game at Hambantota. England did quite well to enter the 250 run-column last time around when they played in Colombo but Sri Lanka braved it following Kumar Sangakkara’s 86-run bit in the chase. Both teams will now play the fifth One-Day International (ODI) at Palleke on Wednesday which would also decide the fate of this long seven-match series.
The Sri Lankans have had a comfortable ride at Colombo. They have won all the three matches Premadasa Stadium has hosted and lost one they played at Hambantota which was watched closely by black hovering clouds and instilled with Decision Review System (DRS). Otherwise, it has all been smooth, the spin army has led the team well and the batsmen have taken all be themselves leaving nothing for the tail to play for.
Kumar Sangakkara has scintillating throughout the series as he has hammered three half-centuries so far and achieved a bounty of records. He reached 13,000 runs in ODI cricket, 1,000 ODI runs in 2014 and also got the record for most dismissals. Sangakkara’s contribution would be vital for the team in the next ODI as well. The bowling attack also looks settled with Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis and Rangana Herath doing the job well. While, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s off-spin has also been quite useful and has also added quality to the bowling unit. Out of the 35 wickets, Sri Lanka has picked so far in the four ODIs, 22 wickets have been picked the four spinners.
England have had some decent performances coming in bits and pieces from their players but they have only managed to pull out a single win in the series so far. If they want to keep their hopes alive in the series have need to win the fifth ODI at Palleke. England who played with Eoin Morgan as their captain in the last ODI did well to reach to a challenging total but couldn’t defend it.
James Taylor who was drafted in for Alastair Cook proved his talent as he scored a spirited knock of 90 runs. It would be interest to see how England goes about Taylor in the fifth ODI when Cook returns to the team. Moeen Ali, who was dismissed early in the last match, would be an important factor in England’s batting line-up as he has shown signs of sublime touch. The bowling has looked a bit humdrum in the absence of quality spinners in their line-up. James Tredwell who was dropped in the last ODI could also see his way back into the England team for the next ODI.
Sri Lanka have played 12 ODIs at Palleke and have only managed to win six of them. The record doesn’t favour the home side but with the current form and intensity, Sri Lanka look clear favourites to seal series at Palleke.
England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan Eion Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.
Time: 14:30 local | 09:00 GMT | 14:30 IST
TRENDING NOW
(Varun Arorais a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Written by 
