England looking to reverse bad run of ODI form as they face Sri Lanka in Colombo
Sri Lanka v England | 1st ODI | Thursday 22nd January | R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | 11:00am
Thursday’s encounter is the first of three ODI’s scheduled between the two sides. Aside from the three ODIs the tour also includes three T20Is which will serve as the final World Cup warmups for both teams.
It seems like just a matter of days since England’s wildly disappointing Ashes campaign came to an end. While that was a Test series, there are still several players from the trip to Australia who are part of the squad in Sri Lanka.
England’s highest ranked ODI batsmen in the series are Joe Root (22) and Harry Brook (27). Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s top ranked batsmen are Charith Asalanka (9), Pathum Nissanka (14) and
Kusal Mendis (16).
Former Indian opening batsman and batting coach has taken up a position as a consultant with the Sri Lankan team. He joined the team on Monday 18 January and will be with the side for the duration of the series against England and the T20 World Cup.
After four ducks in his last 10 ODI innings and a torrid Ashes series, Jamie Smith has been dropped from the England team.
Sri Lanka are currently the fifth ranked ODI side in the world while England are ranked eighth.
In terms of head-to-head meetings between the sides, each has won two of the last five games; the other game ended in with No Result.
The last time these two sides faced each other in an ODI was back in 2023 – Sri Lanka won that game by eight wickets.
England paceman Jofra Archer will miss the three ODIs and three T20Is in Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from the injury which ruled him out during the Ashes. Archer has been included in the squad for the T20 World Cup.
Opener Zak Crawley has been recalled to the England ODI side for the first time since 2023. He currently has eight ODI caps to his credit.
Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
England have played 12 times at the Premadasa Stadium and won just twice. Those two victories were against Zimbabwe in 2002 and over Sri Lanka in 2007.
Sri Lanka meanwhile have an excellent record at the venue with 83 wins from the 134 ODIs they have played there. That is a win percentage of 61.94.
The Premadasa Stadium is a venue where teams prefer to bat first – of the 155 games played at the ground, the side that won the toss elected to bat on 121 occasions.
On 86 occasions the team batting first has won the game while 59 times the team that chased ended up victorious.
The average first innings score at the R Premadasa Stadium is 230.
The highest ever ODI score made at the venue was India’s 375 for five from 50 overs, made against Sri Lanka in 2017.
The lowest ever score made in an ODI at the Premadasa Stadium was Sri Lanka’s miserable 50 all out made against India in 2023.
The highest score successfully chased at the Premadasa Stadium was Sri Lanka’s 292 for four from 48.3 overs made against Australia in 2022.
Weather:
It’s good weather for cricket in Colombo on Thursday with the forecast suggesting beautiful, sunny weather with clear skies throughout the day. Temperatures will peak at around 29 degrees with a low of just 22. With low humidity and steady north-westerly winds, it will be an ideal day for cricket. There is rain scheduled for the weekend but nothing due to fall on Thursday.
Form (most recent game first):
Sri Lanka: L, L, L, W, W.
England: L, L, L, W, L.
Key player:
Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga: Sri Lanka have yet to confirm their squad for the series but expect Wanindu Hasaranga to play. The leg spinner has been an influential performer for Sri Lanka in recent times, and he heads intro the series against England as the world’s 10th ranked ODI bowler. Wanindu has 111 ODI wickets from 68 games with an average of 24.21 and a strike rate of 28.6. Although the last ODI he played was back in November, his recent form (in T20I’s) has been excellent with nine wickets from his last five games, including a return of four for 35 in his last game against Pakistan little more than a week ago.
England, Jacob Bethell: One of only a handful of players to score his first 50 over century in an international game, Bethell was one of the few high points for England following their disappointing Ashes tour. Young and talented Bethell is widely viewed as the shinning future of England cricket. His 154 in the Sydney Ashes Test was his last innings and he will have taken a lot of positives from that. Bethell has played only a handful of ODIs with 517 runs from 16 innings at an average of 34.46 – that’s a number that looks certain to rise as he plays more games. Expect more runs from him in Colombo.
Verdict: Sri Lanka
England have a bad record at the R Premadasa Stadium, and they are low on confidence – both in ODI cricket in general and following their troubled Ashes tour. Sri Lanka meanwhile are at home and playing in conditions that suit them perfectly. England are a mercurial outfit who can be both sublime and ridiculous. A lot will depend on which version of England arrive on the day, but that said, Sri Lanka are consistent and reliable, and they have enough players to cause England’s big names trouble.
