The first of three T20 internationals between England and Sri Lanka takes place at Cardiff on Wednesday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting which has the home side as firm favourites.
Let's begin with a look at the squads.
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (WK), Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka have brought one group of players for the T20's and the ODI's to follow and they will select from the following squad.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (c), Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Oshada Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama
Recent Form
England
England were in India in March for a 5 match series, they won 2 of the first 3 but India hit back to win the series 3-2. Towards the end of 2020 England completed a 3-0 series clean sweep of the Proteas in South Africa.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka were in West Indies in March and they lost a 3 match series 2-1. That was their first T20 action for around a year when they lost a home series to the same opponent 2-0. Going further back Sri Lanka have lost 9 of their last 11 with that sole recent win in the Windies and 1 no result.
Recent Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 9 times with England winning 5 to Sri Lanka's 4.
The most recent meeting came in a one off contest in Colombo in October 2018 and England won by 30 runs.
The Venue Lords, Sophia Gardens Cardiff
England have have played 6 T20's at Cardiff and they have won all of them, most recently beating Pakistan by 7 wickets in May 2019.
This venue will also host the second T20 on Thursday and you can check the weather forecast here.
The Betting
England are currently trading at around 3/10 to win the first T20 and Sri Lanka can be backed at around 11/4
England are 11/20 to hit the most sixes and 5/10 to post the highest first 6 overs total
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Sri Lanka's recent T20 form is really poor although matches have been spread out. Meanwhile England have some really big guns available and their record in this format at Cardiff also catches the eye.
Finding a bet at my usual odds range sways me to speculate in the player to score a 50 market and I'll roll the dice with Dawid Malan.
Bets: Player to score a 50 Dawid Malan? (yes) at 26/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Sunbet, Claim your 1st deposit bonus of up to R1,000 here
