Who Will Win West Indies vs Sri Lanka 1st Test?
West Indies are all set to host Sri Lanka for a three-match test series. The first test gets underway from June 6 at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. Live action is scheduled to commence at 10 AM local time each day of the match.
WI vs SL 1st Test: Where to Watch/Live Streaming
TV channels: Sony Six, Sky Sports Cricket, Fox Sports, SuperSport
Live Streaming: Bet365, SonyLiv, Sky Go, OSN Play
Toss Prediction
Four of the last five test matches (only those that have produced a result) played at the Queen's Park Oval have been won by the side that has fielded first. And also since the wicket is expected to offer a fair amount of seam and swing early on, the team that wins the toss in this match is more likely to bowl first.
Read on for team previews, betting odds, betting tips and match prediction for West Indies vs Sri Lanka 1st Test...
West Indies Team News & Playing 11
Team News
The West Indian selectors have included Devon Smith and uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Jahmar Hamilton in the 13-man test squad. Smith, who last played a test match in the 2015 home series against England, has returned to the Windies test squad after three years. Sunil Ambris, Jermaine Blackwood, Alzarri Joseph and Raymon Reifer are the ones to have been sidelined from the last test series against New Zealand. Surprisingly, the hosts have excluded batsmen Evin Lewis and Denesh Ramdin from the squad.
Key Players
Kraigg Brathwaite has scored the most test runs for the West Indies from the current squad. The opening batsman was also the team's best batsman in the last test series against New Zealand - 201 runs in two matches which included two half-centuries. While Brathwaite is going to be the key man in this West Indian batting line-up, the likes of Kieran Powell, Roston Chase and Shai Hope who has two test hundreds to his name will also play a crucial role. Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Miguel Cummins form a formidable pace attack. Roach with 147 wickets in 44 tests is more likely to penetrate the Sri Lankan top-order with the new ball. Cummins who was the team's leading wicket-taker in the New Zealand series can also cause a few problems for the tourists.
Recent Form
This is the first test match that the Windies will be playing this year. Last year, the hosts played ten matches of which they could win just three, drew one and lost the rest. Their most recent test series came in New Zealand where they suffered heavy defeats in both the matches to lose the series 0-2.
West Indies Predicted Playing 11
Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Jason Holder (c), Kemar Roach, Miguel Cummins, Shannon Gabriel, Devendra Bishoo
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Former captain Angelo Mathews and frontline fast bowler Suranga Lakmal have been confirmed to be fully fit and have joined the 17-man test squad. Batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who had earlier withdrawn himself from the tour due to his father's sudden demise, has returned to the squad. Sri Lanka have brought back Kusal Perera while also including uncapped players Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha and Mahela Udawatte who made his first international appearance for his country ten years ago. Lakshan Sandakan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Danushka Gunathilaka and Dushmantha Chameera are the ones to have been left out.
Key Players
Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva are the big guns in the Sri Lankan batting line-up. Chandimal is tenth on the ICC test rankings for batsmen and is averaging close to 44. Mathews is the team's leading run-getter in this format and is the most experienced of all the batsmen in the side. Kusal Mendis top-scored for Sri Lanka in the previous test series against Bangladesh while de Silva was also pretty impressive. Suranga Lakmal will lead the team's pace attack and he is a top candidate for providing the early breakthroughs with the new ball. Rangana Herath and Akila Dananjaya will be the main threats when it comes to spin bowling. Herath has taken the most wickets for his country in test cricket (415 wickets in 89 matches) after Muttiah Muralitharan and he together with Dananjaya took 17 wickets between them in Bangladesh.
Recent Form
Sri Lanka have won and drawn one out of the two matches they have played this year in the longest format. After losing the three-match series 0-1 in India last year, the Lankans travelled to Bangladesh earlier this year (their last test series) and beat the hosts 1-0 in a two-game series. They won their last test by a huge margin of 215 runs against Bangladesh at Dhaka.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing 11
Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara
Jun 06 - Jun 11, 2018
19:30 IST / 14:00 GMT
Queens Park Oval - Port of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago
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