England vs Sri Lanka Preview & Prediction | 3rd Test
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After winning at Lord’s to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, England now have the opportunity to seal a second consecutive 3-0 sweep, this time over Sri Lanka to complete what would be a 100% record across Test cricket this summer.
DATE/TIME: Friday 6th August 2024 - UK – 11:00am / India – 3:30pm / US EST – 6:00am / US PST – 3:00am
VENUE: The Kia Oval, London, England
WEATHER: A chance of light showers across days 1 and 4 and thundery showers on day 3, but dry across the other two days with temperatures of over 20c on Saturday.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / India – Sony Sports / US – Willow TV
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / India – Sony LIV / US – Willow TV
ENGLAND FORM: FIVE CONSECUTIVE TEST VICTORIES
England are chasing that perfect Test summer but to get it they must now secure one more victory, this time at the Kia Oval. They made a change to their starting XI with tall left-arm pacer Josh Hull set to make his Test debut. The Leicestershire man will replace Matt Potts in the XI, which means batter Jordan Cox will have to wait for his England red ball bow.
LAST FIVE: WWWWW
SRI LANKA FORM: TOURISTS OUTCLASSED AT LORD’S
Sri Lanka were outplayed in the second Test and can have no complaints at the result, defeat by 190 runs. In order to try and end the tour on a high, two changes have been made to their side with an emphasis on seam ahead of spin. Vishwa Fernando and Kusal Mendis are in for Prabath Jayasuriya and Nishan Madushka, the latter having struggled with the bat at the top of the order.
LAST FIVE: LLWWW
ENGLAND BETTING ANALYSIS
There’s only one place to start here when analysing England and that’s with Joe Root. Consecutive hundreds in the second Test means that he has now accumulated an incredible 350 runs in four innings over the course of this series. Sri Lanka simply do not have an answer in terms of how to get him out and bettors should invest in Root to rub more salt into Sri Lankan bowling wounds at the Kia Oval. Back the former England captain to end this third Test as England’s top first innings batter for the second consecutive game.
Whilst Gus Atkinson made the headlines at Lord’s for his batting after notching a memorable maidan Test century, it’s his bowling that has been a consistent source of strength for England this summer. His five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s last batting innings means that Atkinson has now taken 11 wickets over the course of this series so far, the most of any England bowler. It’s well worth backing the Surrey star to end a breakthrough summer with over 4.5 match wickets in the final Test.
SRI LANKA BETTING ANALYSIS
After being left out of the second Test, Kusal Mendis will no doubt have a point to prove to the selectors. The experienced Sri Lanka scored just 24 runs across two innings in the first Test, including a duck in his second dig, but having had a period of time to watch from afar and study the England bowlers, Mendis could be better placed to perform at a higher level on this occasion. Consider backing Mendis to score a fifty at the Kia Oval.
One player who could certainly emerge from Lord’s with his head held high was Asitha Fernando. A potent display of bowling left him with figures of 5-102 from 24 overs across England’s first innings and Fernando complemented those numbers with another three wickets later in the match. He has been the one player who the England lower order in particular have struggled against and backing him to take over 3.5 match wickets here warrants exploring from bettors.
ENGLAND VS SRI LANKA EXPERT PREDICTION
There is a strong chance that rain could see a large number of overs lost during this third and final Test of the English summer and with that in mind, it wouldn’t be wise to just back England outright for victory. Instead, focus specifically on England’s ace batter in Joe Root. He should have more than enough time to make another considerable impact at the crease and it would be a surprise to see him not record over 94.5 match runs.
ENGLAND VS SRI LANKA TIP: JOE ROOT TO SCORE OVER 94.5 MATCH RUNS
