Who will win England vs Sri Lanka (3rd ODI)?
Sri Lanka and England will be hoping the rain stays away when they play the third ODI of this series at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, after two rain-affected matches in Dambulla. The match is scheduled for October 17 and the live action begins at 14:30 local time.
Sri Lanka vs England: Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Sky Sports, MTV Channel, Sony Six, Fox Sports, SuperSport, Willow TV, OSN Sports Cricket, Gazi TV
Live streaming: SonyLiv, Sky Go
Toss Prediction
Sri Lanka won the toss and bowled first in the washed-out first game, and it seems likely both teams might fancy bowling first this time too.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Sri Lanka vs England (3rd ODI).
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
SL Team News
Unsurprisingly, Sri Lanka stuck with the same team that had fielded for just 15 overs before the rain came down in the first ODI when hostilities resumed at Dambulla last time out. Lakshan Sandakan toiled through nine, expensive wicketless overs with the ball and – after the seamers had a big impact on the game – Sri Lanka might be tempted to opt for another in his place. Dushmantha Chameera is one option. After the batsman struggled with the bat, there may be changes there too – though with Angelo Mathews among those left out of the squad due to fitness issues, it will not be the former captain they turn to.
SL Key Players
Lasith Malinga claimed 5-44 in the second ODI, ripping through the England batting line-up with his fast swing bowling – taking his 500th international wicket in the process. Five of those came in the Asia Cup – Sri Lanka’s last ODI engagement – while Thisara Perera took six in that tournament.
Perera is a dangerman with bat and ball, and was sat on 44 not out from 41 balls when the rain came last time out – having hit one four and three sixes. He has scored 228 runs in his last ten matches at an average of 32.57, while also picking up 14 wickets in those games.
Namesake Kusal Perera scored 84 at Pallekele in a T20 match for Kandy last month and is another of Sri Lanka’s recent top scorers. His 30 in the second ODI took him to 237 in his last nine matches at a run rate just above a run a ball.
SL Team Form
Sri Lanka are out of sorts in ODIs – which was never more evident than in the Asia Cup. Their batting has the biggest worry, as scores of 124 against Bangladesh and 158 against Afghanistan clearly highlight. Bangladesh won by 137 runs and Afghanistan by 91 runs as Sri Lanka suffered an early exit.
They had previously lost 3-2 to South Africa in their most recent bilateral series, though that scoreline flatters the hosts a lot – South Africa had the series wrapped up after the third game. It was only 6-29 from Akila Dananjaya in the final game – a 178-run win after bowling South Africa out for 121 – that Sri Lanka really showed the best form.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing 11
Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera
England Team News & Playing 11
ENG Team News
Liam Dawson is a fitness doubt for England with a side strain, meaning they will likely have to alter the balance of their XI. If Dawson misses out, Joe Root will have to bowl as the third spinner, while Mark Wood or the Curran brothers will come into the line-up. Sam Curran’s test form may give him the edge, but Wood was in the England team for the win against India that preceded this tour. Alex Hales was the other man to sit out the first two matches, with Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow opening the batting.
ENG Key Players
Joe Root’s fine one-day form continued in the second ODI, as he hit 71 from 83 balls batting at number three. He had previously hit back-to-back unbeaten centuries to turn the one-day series against India around as England won 2-1, and hit 90* in the warm-up game and 25* in the first ODI before the rain came.
Eoin Morgan top-scored last time out, however with 92 from 91 balls. He too was not out in the 90s in the warm-up game and unbeaten when the rain arrived in the first ODI, having hit 88* in his previous ODI before this tour – the decisive win against India. Morgan and Root have shared several big partnerships lately, batting at three and four.
They are not England’s only strong batsmen either with Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow generally scoring plenty at the top of the order and the Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler to come in after Root and Morgan.
England are strong with the ball too, and Chris Woakes claimed 3-26 from his five overs last time out, while Adil Rashid (18 wickets in his last ten games) and Moeen Ali (14 in 10) generally share spin-bowling duties.
ENG Team Form
An England win will put them on the brink of a ninth consecutive ODI series win, having beaten Australia and India in the summer just gone to maintain their form. There was a shock defeat to Scotland in there too, in a one-off game, but that has proved to be a rare blip in an otherwise excellent spell of form in this format.
Against Australia, England won all five ODIs as Jason Roy hitting two centuries, and 304 runs in total, and Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales all hitting one apiece. The former’s came in a thrilling one-wicket win in the final game, which owed it all to his batting, while the latter two both hit their centuries in the record-breaking total of 481/6 England posted on their way to a 242-run win at Trent Bridge.Against India, meanwhile, the tourists won the first game but Joe Root led the comeback with scores of 113* and 100* in the second and third match – England winning by 86 runs and then by eight wickets to wrap up a 2-1 series win.
England Predicted Playing 11
Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Olly Stone, Mark Wood
Oct 17, 2018
14:30 IST / 9:00 GMT
Pallekele Cricket Stadium - Kandy, Sri Lanka
Sl vs Eng 
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