Sri Lanka vs England, 2018: 5 reasons why Sri Lanka can beat England
England are in the island nation of Sri Lanka where they will lock horns with a team in disarray in a 5 match ODI series starting from 10th October 2018 at Dambulla. England will be refreshed after their convincing performances against a strong Indian side at home. Their performance in the limited overs formats have been on the upswing in past 15-18 months.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have lost 30 out of their last 40 ODI matches. After their pathetic performances against Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the recently concluded Asia Cup, they sacked their captain Angelo Mathews.
Despite all the odds stacked in favour of the visiting English side, Sri Lanka in their home conditions pull off a shock by defeating England. Here’s looking at 5 reasons why Sri Lanka could beat England in the 5-match series:
Sri Lanka would look to capitalize on a fresh and fit Dinesh Chandimal
There have been far too much chopping and changing with regards to the captain’s position for Sri Lanka in recent times. The island nation has tried players like Angelo Matthews, Upul Tharanga, Suranga Lakmal and even Dinesh Chandimal with very little success to show.
After a dismal Asia Cup campaign where the team under Angelo Matthews were outclassed by Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the team management have decided to hand the reigns back to Dinesh Chandimal in a bid to gain some semblance of stability heading into the World Cup to be played next year.
Dinesh Chandimal comes into this ODI series fresh-physically and mentally. He has been in the news recently for his bad conduct leading to him being banned for few test matches. Post that an elbow injury ruled the batsman out of action in the past few months. He missed the Asia Cup as well so on a personal level he won’t have any mental blocks post that debacle.
It is this fresh and positive energy of his that Dinesh Chandimal should look to pass on to his team. As the captain, he must lead from the front by setting aggressive fields and making smart bowling changes that can affect England’s momentum.
And with their middle order in tatters, Sri Lanka could very well use the services of their captain who has scored 3433 runs in 126 ODIs at a decent average of 32.70. It’s the lack of consistency that has plagued the batsman’s growth. But returning to the national side post a slew of injuries should have probably made him understand how important and imperative it is for him to let his bat do the talking in the ODI series.
A team reeling from recent performances that have been shoddy and would look at a returning Dinesh Chandimal to provide them with the much-needed morale boost they require to challenge England.