Chaos vs. consistency is the theme for game three today. Sri Lanka are enjoying their turn to dish out the punishment after being whipping boys in India, and have developed a nice consistent tempo to their game. On the other hand, the chaotic English side is within touching distance of a complete meltdown.
Loses in the first two matches of the cricket series have again subject their captain to speculative media attention, and the batsmen’s frailties against spin are becoming glaringly obvious. Too many of their players are out of form. Cook, Bell, Morgan, and Butler are all quality players in their own right, but England need a lot more productivity out of them if they are going to compete in this series or the Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lanka just need to keep winning and prepare themselves for sterner tests.
The Last Time These Two Met
The second one-day international cricket match was the opposite of the first. Dull, one sided and timid would have all featured on the synopsis of the highlights package as England slumped to an eight-wicket loss.
The Teams
Sri Lanka: Dilshan, Kusal, Sangakkara, Thirimanne, Mathews, Kandamby, T Perera, J Mendis, Prasad, Herath, A Mendis.
Kandamby replaces the unavailable Jayawardene.
England: Cook, Moeen, Hales, Root, Morgan, Bopara, Buttler, Stokes, Woakes, Jordan, Finn
Three changes for England. Hales, Stokes and Jordan to replace Bell, Gurney and Tredwell. Hales is officially the best T20 batsmen in the World (ICC Cricket Rankings). He opens in every format he plays, but is strangely being asked to bat three here, or not so strangely if you consider Alastair Cook the England captain also prefers to open.
The Key Players
Ajantha Mendis – He may not make it into the final XI for Sri Lanka’s crucial Cricket World Cup games but boy does he love playing against England. After already taking five wickets in the two matches thus far his average against England has lowered to 26 with an RPO of under 5. Expect him to take wickets again.
Alex Hales – Hales is a destructive cricketer. He averages an impressive 37 from his 33 international T20 games at a strike rate of 138. The unwritten rule of T20 cricket is that a batsman is reasonable if his strike rate and averages totals over 160. Hales achieves that, and some. The test will be whether he can start well against spin if asked to.
The Odds*
Sri Lanka – $1.85
England – $1.95
*International Cricket odds courtesy of Centrebet.
The Prediction
Rain is predicted to wreck havoc on this one so the toss could be quite crucial. England can’t get it done on the field so maybe a bit of luck will help them here. I’m going for them to win the toss and to win the match. Jayawardene’s absence a big factor in the decision.
