England faces Sri Lanka in the 2nd One Day International of the 3-match bilateral series at ‘The Oval’ in South London with a two-hour delayed start scheduled on July 1.
After winning the recently concluded 3-match T20I series by a flattering margin of 3-0, the Eoin Morgan-led squad is aiming to repeat the scoreline in the longest format of limited-overs cricket as we know the sport today.
What went down in the 1st ODI?
After winning the toss, England skipper Morgan asked Sri Lanka to bat first. A weakened Sri Lanka side couldn’t put up a big fight to Chris Woakes who ran through their top order by picking up four of the visitors’ first five wickets.
Skipper Kusal Perera and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga stitched together a 99-run stand in 20.3 overs to put up a total of 185 on the scoreboard. David Willey took three wickets and Sam Billings ensured the Lankan tail wouldn’t wag with two run-outs to his name.
With regular opening batsman Jason Roy missing the 1st ODI due to a tight hamstring issue and World’s No.1 T-20 batsman Dawid Malan unavailable due to personal reasons, Liam Livingstone opened the English innings along with Jonny Bairstow.
Bairstow’s blitz at the top helped England to cross the 50-run mark before the end of the fifth over. Quick wickets of Livingstone, Bairstow, Morgan, and Billings left the home side in a precarious position at 80/4 after 12 overs.
Joe Root, playing in his 150th ODI anchored England’s run-chase with his batsmen returning to the pavilion one after the other. Root’s unbeaten innings of 79 runs off 87 balls along with Moeen Ali’s crucial knock of 28 runs off 57 balls helped the World Champions to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Full Squads
England Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Perera (c), Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Oshada Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama
Team News
England started the series with many of their fast bowlers ruled out of the series due to their respective injuries. Ben Stokes, Saqib Mahmood, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, and Jofra Archer were omitted from the squad with all-rounder Stokes already building up to match fitness by playing in the T20 Blast.
Jos Buttler was ruled out for the entire series whilst his replacement Malan is also going through personal issues along with Roy feeling a tight hamstring during the 3rd T20I against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka cricket has been going through a crisis after multiple changes in the board and the skipper of the side in the last few years. Head coach Mickey Arthur was given a young group of guys for the tour of England and three of his most experienced batsmen in vice-captain Kusal Mendis, opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka, and wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella were sent back home for breaching the bio-bubble set in place by the England Cricket Board.
Without three of their key batsmen and inexperienced players deputizing in the playing XI, the Lankan Lions have a tough test ahead.
Predicted XIs
England: Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan ©, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera ©, Oshada Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Ramesh Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Praveen Jayawickrama
Prediction
As discussed, the England squad is nowhere near being full-strength for the visit of Sri Lanka but Morgan and co. should be strong enough to beat the weakened, inexperienced, and underconfident Lankan Lions in the 2nd ODI on Thursday as per Parimatch’s prediction.
Sri Lanka is on a run of losing consecutive series and a defeat at ‘The Oval’ would spell doom for the Perera-led side. A second-string India team led by Shikhar Dhawan would be visiting the island country in July and the Sri Lankan fans would be lucky enough to see their side win a single match of cricket in the month of July.