Sri Lanka vs England Prediction: Tongue and Salt the ones to watch

The T20 World Cup is just around the corner and England have a few final matches before they attempt to win back the trophy. Jamie Pacheco previews the 1st T20I between Sri Lanka and England, starting 13:30 on Friday, January 30 and live on TNT Sports 1.  

Jamie is going with two players who weren't involved in the ODIs Series for England to hit the ground running in the T20I Series on the top bat and bowler markets...

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Match Preview:

Sri Lanka  

Hasaranga did play last time out in the 3rd ODI and the fact he had a pretty poor game was a big factor in Sri Lanka losing the match. 

His 10 overs cost 76 runs with the wicket of Rehan Ahmed the best he had to show for his efforts.  

But this (T20I) is his best format so expect him to go well; he may also have been a bit rusty.  

Similar to with the ODIs, they haven't announced their squad yet. What we do know is that Dasun Shanaka replaces Charith Asalanka as skipper. Shanka has a habit of pushing himself down the order and batting as low as seven, which is a waste of his talents.     

England 

Serves me right. I criticised Harry Brook for his criticism of the pitch in the 2nd ODI and he went out and played an unbelievable knock of 136 off 66 which was an even bigger factor in the result than Hasaranga's indifferent bowling.  

Joe Root, who played beautifully in the ODI Series, continues to be left out of their T20 plans. Maybe they should re-think that but it's obviously too late in the day to consider him for the World Cup.  

 Josh Tongue comes in and Zak Crawley, who was injured anyway, misses out.  

Pitch and conditions 

Pallekele has seen plenty of T20I action over the years; 27 matches to be precise.  

The average runs per over are 8.65 so it's a pretty fair wicket for both batters and bowlers. Somewhat freakishly, there have been three ties here over the years, the last of which was  last year between SL and India; both got 137.  

So 165 or so batting first gives you every chance. There's no rain forecast.   

Match Winner odds. 

Even though England won the ODI Series, I still think Sri Lanka should have been favourites ahead of all three matches.   

But I think the odds-compilers have got the prices right ahead of this one, with the hosts 5/4 and England 8/13.  

This is arguably England's best format, they've been a better side than SL in it for a few years now and one of the chief reasons for that is they have more power with the bat. We'll leave this market alone.   

*For all the latest and live Sri Lanka vs England 1st T20I Odds then head over to betfred.com 

England Top Batsman  

Phil Salt has been one of the best T20I batsmen in the world for a few years now. Don't believe me? He's currently the Number 2 ranked as per the ICC rankings, with only India's Abishek Sharma ahead of him.  

I suppose others like Jos Buttler and Harry Brook have already got accustomed to conditions from the ODI Series but I can't really see that making much of a difference to a player like Salt, for whom conditions almost aren't a factor at all. 7/2 is a decent price in light of all that.  

England Top Bowler  

The same (regarding not playing the ODIs) can be said about Tongue. Regular readers of this column will know he was a real cash cow for us in The Hundred over the summer, winning several times and always at value odds.  

He's 4/1 here and that will do us just fine, remembering he's very likely to bowl at the death. We all know the danger that Adil Rashid poses but then again, he's 14/5.   

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