In-form England will look to maintain their one-day momentum ahead of next year’s World Cup when they take on a Sri Lanka side in disarray in the first of a five-match series at Dambulla on Wednesday. The world’s number one ranked 50-over side, England is favourites despite a historically poor record on the island.
England beat India 2-1 in July to record their eighth consecutive bilateral ODI series win. Against Australia at Trent Bridge in June, they notched up a 50-over world record score of 481 as Alex Hales blasted 147 and Jonny Bairstow 139.
“We still have a long way to go,” England’s ODI captain Eoin Morgan said, with the World Cup just eight months away. “It’s taken us three and a half years to get to where we are, but I think we’re getting to the most important part of what we’ve been planning towards.”
The hosts are still reeling from the axing of captain Angelo Mathews after a dismal run of 30 losses in their last 40 ODIs including defeats to Bangladesh and Afghanistan in last month’s Asia Cup. Sri Lanka’s new captain Dinesh Chandimal missed the Asia Cup and the preceding ODI series against South Africa due to injury and suspension but struck 77 in a practice match against England in Colombo on Friday.
“We have been trying to figure out where we have got things wrong,” Chandimal said. “We have an idea now. We will let players adjust to the situations.”
Sri Lanka ODI squad: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Upul Tharanga, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha.
England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
