England vs Sri Lanka 2016, 4th ODI at London, Predictions and Preview: Hosts eye series win

England lead the five-match ODI series 1-0 and will look to seal the series at Kennington Oval, London on Wednesday.

England and Sri Lanka will square off against each other in the fourth ODI of the five-match series. The venue this time will be the Kennington Oval in London. The series which is currently in favor of the hosts with a 1-0 lead, has already seen two games having no impact. The first one ended in a mouth-watering tie and the last game was abandoned after England had just come out to chase Sri Lanka’s sub-par total of 249 for 9. The only game that has made a difference was the second ODI at Edgbaston in Birmingham, where England openers registered a monstrous 10-wicket win. But, in spite of Sri Lanka not being at their best, the series is still up for grabs. However, after Brexit and Exit (England Football national team’s exit from Euro 2016), a Sri Lankan series win from here on would be hard to call though. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England  vs  Sri Lanka , 4th ODI match at London

England have came back fighting ever since they lost half their side in the run-chase during the first ODI at Trent Bridge. The second ODI was a near-perfect display. A fine bowling display was well complemented by the brilliance in the batting of Alex Hales and Jason Roy. The duo not only scored centuries, they put on a show of majestic batting and finished things in style with almost 16 overs to spare.

The England bowlers have been remarkable as well. Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes have taken wickets and contributed in almost all the matches. David Willey might not have taken many wickets, but he has been accurate with his line and length. He showed what he is capable of with the new ball in the last ODI. The spinners have done their role well too.

The Sri Lankans just could not make use of the fantastic batting pitch that was on offer at Nottingham. They have had issues with their batting which continued in the next match at Bristol as well. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews have played with responsibility, but the team has struggled to put on a big target.

The bowlers could not produce wickets for them in the second ODI but who knows what might have happened if play would have continued at Bristol. With Suranga Lakmal sending Hales back to the pavilion for a first-ball duck, Sri Lanka would have thought of coming back into the game. However, cricket is not a game of ifs and buts. Sri Lanka will have to change a bit of tactics and approach the next game as a do-or-die clash. One of the change in tactics could well be of promoting Upul Tharanga up the order. Remember, a win for England would seal the series for them and then the game at Cardiff would just be a dead-rubber.

Squads:

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, James Vince.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dasun Shanaka, Seekkuge Prasanna, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Farveez Maharoof, Suraj Randiv.

Time: 5:30 PM (IST) | 13.00 local

(Karan Dewan, a reporter with CricketCountry, loves following and playing sports. He is a Team India fan and loves winning. Follow him on his twitter handle @karan13dewan)