Close to being written off after three games in the series England surprised everyone by winning game five easily. The surprise win means they can take the series to a deciding game with a follow up win in game six. That is a strong possibility given the form of the care bear kids, Joe Root and James Taylor.
Sri Lanka are still tinkering with their World Cup lineup and have introduced new players for this one. While they do want to give exposure to a wide range of players and allow others time to get into World Cup form, they’ll be annoyed if they can’t close this one out.
Pallekele again should favour the English side.
The Last Time These Two Met
Game five saw England close the series gap to just one game. Joe Root’s cool head saw England home in a chase that was delayed by an entire day due to wet weather. The match was also significant for Sachithra Senanayake who returned superbly from an international bowling ban.
The Teams
Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Suranga Lakmal 11 Lakshan Sandakan
Kusal Perera and Ajantha Mendis have been dropped. Perera is to be replaced by Dimuth Karunaratne, whereas Suranga Lakmal Lakshan Sandakan should be given a chance at Mendis and Prasad’s expense.
England (likely): 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 James Taylor, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wkt), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 James Tredwell, 11 Steven Finn
No changes expected to their winning side.
The Key Players
Steven Finn – The obvious key player to spotlight would be Alastair Cook. But he’s getting enough light from every other fan and critic of English cricket. Therefore, we’ll leave him alone and focus on Steven Finn. Finn is slowly regaining his form after overcoming a long held groin injury. The quick achieved figures of 1-28 in his best bowling effort of the series. Finn will be hoping to regain top form in game six and take early wickets.
Lahiru Thirimanne – Averages a whopping 116 in this series because of three not outs from four innings. Equally impressive is the strike rate of 106 which seems to outline that the left hander is much more comfortable as a lower order closer than he is / was at the top of the order. Thirimanne was in sublime form leading into this series too. In the emergency games against India he posted back to back fifties.
The Odds*
Sri Lanka – $1.57
England – $2.40
*International Cricket odds courtesy of Unibet.
The Prediction
The cynic in all of us thinks this will go to a deciding game. More money, more television viewers and more interest. So England to win this one for us. Jump on Unibet to take advantage of the generous price on England.
