12 Jun 2019
Tomorrow sees the start of a three match test series as England will be keen to build on an overall record of 12 wins to 8 against the Sri Lankans with the rest of their previous 31 meetings ending in stalemates.
Host at Galle, a ground that has become known as somewhat as a fortress for Sri Lankan cricket, England will go into the game buoyed by a record that’s seen them power to a 3-1 victory and 1-0 victory respectively in the recent ODI and T20 fixtures between the two sides.
That being said though, England will know all too well that the task in prospect this time around is a whole new ball game, having recorded just one series win on Sri Lankan soil in the lifetime of oldest squad player, James Anderson.
With Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath looking for a fairytale ending to his career, spin expected to be vital and the elements also potentially playing their part, here we break down the key talking points heading into the first test…
The Formbook
Although England will no doubt still remember being on the wrong end of an absolute schooling in Galle some six years ago when the likes of Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell saw Sri Lankan spinner Herath take 12 wickets, they will no doubt go into this fixture with heart off the back of test success against India this summer.
Their away test record is fairly dismal of late though, with an unconvincing win against Bangladesh over two years ago the last time they tasted success on foreign soil. In contrast, Sri Lanka will go into the fixture full of confidence off the back of a 2-0 win against South Africa at home earlier this year. Again, spinner Herath influenced there, taking five wickets in a 278-run victory in one of those games.
The Wrath of Herath
Facing an England side that have struggled somewhat in red ball cricket of late, it would be hard to look past Herath again being an integral figure here for Sri Lanka as spin is predicted to hold the key in Galle.
The 40-year old spinner is second only to the Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan on his country’s all-time lists and Galle is a ground where he has scooped 99 wickets to date with nine five wicket hauls and five man of the match awards.
With 430 career test wickets to his name at an average of 27.95 and 24 dismissals in five matches in 2018, it would appear the stage is set for the great to bow out in style and we fancy him at betting odds of 13/10 to be Sri Lanka’s top wicket taker.
If he can live up to the pre-match hype, Sri Lanka look a good bet to take the first test at cricket betting odds of 5/6.
Spin it to win it
In terms of England, the likes of Moenn Ali, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid will no doubt be of utmost importance to their chances of success with the latter a spinning weapon that has caused devastation for opposing teams in white ball cricket on a regular basis of late.
If he can translate that form to test cricket here, England will fancy their chances at betting odds of 19/20 to take the win.
Changing of the guard
Aside from spin, a win for England will likely rest on a number of factors with the retirement of Alastair Cook and somewhat of a changing of the guard making decisions a little more challenging for captain Joe Root.
Relative rookies Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns will hope to cause havoc in the batting line-up, which is expected to undergo somewhat of a shake up to provide Moenn Ali with some rest bite from what will likely be a busy game with the ball in hand.
We fancy Joe Root to be the man to step up with a captain’s performance though – having notched a century in the opening warm-up game, we fancy him to be England’s leading run scorer here at betting odds of 14/5.
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