Sri Lanka is set to host England in a two-match test series, starting on January 14. After a poor outing against the England in their previous home series, Sri Lanka will hope for a turnaround this time. On the other hand, England will look to clinch another series away from home.
Here are the few things the fans can expect:Â
Fast-moving Matches: Sri Lanka hasn’t seen many draw matches in the last decade. This series is not expected to be an exception. Both the teams like to play attacking brand of cricket. Naturally the scoring rate will be high, and that approach could bring wickets atregular intervals. Also the series will be played in January, so less possibility of rain interruption. Don’t be surprised if the matches are finished within four days.
Plenty of Spin: Both teams will bank on their spin department. Usually, the home team in subcontinent prefers to play on the turning tracks. Sri Lanka will play with three prime spinners in Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, and Wanindu Hasaranga. Though England will miss the service of Moeen Ali due to a positive COVID test, the team shouldn’t be too upset about that. They have Dom Bess and Jack Leach in the squad with Matt Parkinson and Amar Virdi as back-ups. Expect the spinners to have a big influence in this series.
Test of Experience: Sri Lanka’s batting has been fragile in the last few years. They are yet to find proper replacements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Once again Sri Lanka will look towards their most two experienced batsmen Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne to put up a decent total on the board. For England, it’s their brittle top order which is a cause of concern. The skipper Joe Root is a very good player of spin and he needs to stand tall in the tough situations. Jonny Bairstow is likely to get another chance to cement his place in the team. Gritty performances against Sri Lanka can help Bairstow to revive his test career.
Emerging Heroes: The series comes as a great opportunity for lots of new players to impress the team management of both countries. Wanindu Hasaranga will look to replicate his LPL performance after the failure against South Africa. Zak Crawley is slowly making his presence felt in the international arena and a good series in the sub-continent will hugely boost his reputation. Eyes will be on highly-rated players such as Dan Lawrence, Olly Stone, Asitha Fernando and Minod Bhanuka as well.