Both teams will be keeping an eye on the Super League World Cup – points dropped now could be costly later
Big picture
Neither the West Indies nor Sri Lanka have much recent history to be good at this format. A quick look through stats first. Since the start of 2019, the West Indies have lost 21 and won just 13 of their ODIs. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have done a little better – 10 wins and 14 losses – but have benefited from having most of their best players throughout, which is not the luxury of West Indies in many bilateral series.
The West Indies were recently whitewashed 3-0 in their series against Bangladesh, but that was by a squad that was under a lot of strength, and we can’t take much from that performance to be predict a report for the upcoming series. It may be better to look back on their series in Sri Lanka, where Sri Lanka won 3-0. But even that is not a great prediction of form. Not only was that series over a year ago, Sri Lanka ‘s two most prolific bats from that series – Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis – are not in this squad.
Like so much of Covid’s cricket, we are entering the unknown. How rusty will most of these players be in a form they haven’t played in over 12 months? With the hectic record – itself the result of the pandemic – will teams promise an early rotation policy, or will they continue to play their game winners? There is no ODI World Cup this year, so it looks like a low tier. But then the ODI World Cup Super League is to think about. If the second team tanks this series, the pressure over the 2023 World Cup spots will start to go up.
Form instructions
(completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: LLLLL
Sri Lanka: : WWWLL
In mind
In the series these teams played in February and March last year, Shai Hope was the overall winner, with 238 runs at an average of 79.33. His lowest score in those three innings was 51 (there were also 115 and 72), and crucially, it was possible not only to see Sri Lankan quotas, but even bargain the the most difficult of Sri Lankan spinners. Rarely in that series did he seem to be fighting Wanindu Hasaranga – a Sri Lankan-style bowler. Hope’s approach to opening was usually to lower anchors, and to focus on providing content to the tissues, before the lowest hitters hit. enter and build the tempo. He will be one of the most troubling opposition members of Sri Lanka.
In the year since Hope played it alright, though, Wanindu Hasaranga has grown significantly. Although Sri Lanka has not played much, its googly has become more disastrous in the locking months. His control has improved as well, and with it, his confidence. Sri Lanka have been looking for a limited-edition handball player with too much confidence for years, and while it is still early days for Hasaranga, he seems to be the one most likely to build a long career for himself out of his own. the current group of spinners. He will be inspired after his Player-of-the-Series achievement in the T20Is.
Park and conditions
There is a small chance of wet rain at the North Firth, but rain is unlikely to stop the game from ending. Temperatures are expected to hover around the mid 20s Celsius.
Team news
Left-arm spinner Kevin Sinclair may be making his ODI debut for the West Indies, after some good performances in the T20Is.
West Indies (possible): 1 Shai Hope (wk), 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Kyle Mayers, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Akeal Hosein / Kevin Sinclair, 11 Alzarri Joseph
It’s hard to figure out which way Sri Lanka will go with their batting line. On the fast bowling front, Dushmantha Chameera looks set to play after good T20 rounds. Nuwan Pradeep seems to have preferred Suranga Lakmal, because of Pradeep’s death bowling.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Pathum Nissanka, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Pradeep
Stats and trivia
- On the nine occasions Sri Lanka has met the West Indies since 2015, Sri Lanka have won eight games and the West Indies just one.
- Wanindu Hasaranga ODI has never played outside of Asia. His bowling record against West Indies in last year’s three-game series is unbelievably good – four wickets at 29.50, despite an economy rate of 3.93.
- Since 2017, only Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have written more than Shai Hope’s 3102 ODI run. Average expectations from 2018 are 61.02.
- The West Indies won just one of their four most recent home ODI series, and that was against Ireland in early 2020. They have lost to India and Bangladesh, and drew 2-2 against England from 2018.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a Sri Lankan journalist at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf