Monday’s action in the Cricket World Cup comes from Durham where an unpredictable Sri Lanka clash with West Indies.
Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka were in action against South Africa at this venue on Friday and they put in a really poor performance, going down by 9 wickets. Their chances of making the semi finals are now remote at best even if they win this game and then beat in India in their final match of the round robin.
Batting first on Friday Sri Lanka set off scoring quickly but soon found trouble and they were bowled out for just 203 with no batsmen scoring more than 30. The chase was a formality and Malinga was the only wicket taker as South Africa got up in 37.2 overs.
Sri Lanka’s matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh were both washed out without a ball being bowled. In completed matches they lost New Zealand by 10 wickets, beat Afghanistan by 34 runs (DLS), lost to Australia by 87 runs and beat England by 20 runs.
Kusal Perera is leading run scorer for Sri Lanka with 191 runs and Dimuth Karunaratne has made 180. With the ball Malinga has taken 9 wickets and Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Dhananjaya de Silva all have 5.
This was how Sri Lanka lined up against South Africa last time out.
Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal
West Indies:
West Indies suffered a 125 run hiding at the hands of India in Manchester on Thursday, a result which confirmed they can no longer make the semi finals.
India posted a bat first total of 268/7 at Old Trafford and Kemar Roach was top bowler for West Indies with figures of 3/36 from his 10 overs. West Indies chase never got going with opener Sunil Ambris making the top score of just 31 and they were bowled out for 143 in 34.2 overs.
That defeat leaves West Indies without a win since their opening match when they beat Pakistan by 7 wickets. Other subsequent results include a 14 run defeat to Australia, an abandoned game against South Africa, an 8 wicket defeat to England, a 7 wicket loss to Bangladesh and a 5 run defeat to New Zealand.
Chris Gayle is leading run scorer for West Indies with 200, Shai Hope has 192 Nicholas Pooran has 191. Sheldon Cottrell is leading wicket taker with 11, Oshane Thomas has 7 and Jason Holder has 6.
This is how West Indies lined up against India last time out.
Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (capt), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
Head to Head
The teams have met 56 times with Sri Lanka winning 25, West Indies have won 28 with 3 no results.
The Betting, Click here for all markets
Sri Lanka 33/20
West Indies 5/10
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Verdict:
After beating England the Sri Lankans were just awful against South Africa but whether they should be underdogs against a West Indies side who haven’t won since their first match of the tournament is another matter.
I would find it hard to back either side to win the game with any confidence so the Player Performance market comes on to the radar where 1 point is awarded for each run, 10 for a catch and 20 for a wicket. I’m looking for someone who can contribute with bat and ball and West Indies skipper Jason Holder fits that criteria.
Suggested Bets:
Player Performance, Jason Holder over 48.5 at 9/10.
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Claim your 1st deposit bonus of up to R10,000 here
Remember you can have your own say on all this week’s matches on our discussion forum
