Knocked out SL and WI focus on life after World Cup

How have Sri Lanka performed in this World Cup? It's not a straightforward question to answer. They had won just 12 out 53 completed ODIs between the start of 2017 and the start of this World Cup, and were led in the tournament by someone who had last played an ODI in the last World Cup.

The same team managed to topple the pre-tournament favourites, and despite just two wins and two points from two washouts, had a chance to make it to the semi-finals before England defeated India on Sunday. But even the ardent fans of Sri Lanka cricket will agree that missing out on a top-four spot is the true representation of the side's recent form and performance in the tournament. Having said that, Sri Lanka have the players to take their cricket forward and the match against West Indies on Monday will provide another opportunity to do so.

On the other hand, West Indies' campaign has gone pear-shaped after their emphatic win over Pakistan in their opening match. Both their batting and bowling have been too one-dimensional. Their pacers were too rigid with their short-ball strategy, and their batsmen uninterested in converting singles into doubles.

Had the West Indies batsmen applied themselves a bit more against Australia, and Carlos Brathwaite managed to clear Trent Boult against New Zealand, things would have looked quite different. But the hard fact is, they have now lost five matches on the trot and are out of the tournament. And if their coach Floyd Reifer is to be believed, West Indies have already started looking beyond this World Cup.

Sri Lanka LWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

West Indies LLLLL

Shai Hope came into the World Cup as one of the key West Indies batsmen, having scored 2060 runs at an average of 51.50 since the start of 2017. However, his numbers at this World Cup pale in comparison: 192 runs at an average of 32. While he has never been an enforcer with the bat, his strike rate too dropped from 76.63 to 67.13. With two games still in hand, the wicketkeeper-batsman would like to finish the tournament on a high.

Lasith Malinga's yorkers may no longer send shivers down the batsmen's spines but they still have enough in them to get them out, as he showed against Afghanistan and England. He is, by far, Sri Lanka's most successful bowler this World Cup with nine wickets from five games and his team will expect an encore from their old warhorse.

With Nuwan Pradeep out of the tournament with chicken pox, Sri Lanka are likely to bring in Kasun Rajitha for Suranga Lakmal, who had filled in for Pradeep against South Africa. Milinda Siriwardana replacing Jeevan Mendis also may not be such a bad idea.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Jeevan Mendis/Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Kasun Rajitha

If Evin Lewis is fit, he will replace Sunil Ambris at the top of the batting order. Other than that, West Indies are expected to go unchanged.

West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis/Sunil Ambris, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Carlos Brathwaite, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane Thomas

It's a new pitch from the one the Sri Lanka-South Africa game was played on and it bore a beige and bare look on the eve of the game. Teams batting second have won four out the last five ODIs at Chester-le-Street. The weather is forecast to be a bit windy with clouds overhead.

"The batting is the main reason for our failures. We couldn't get a hundred, despite having played five games now. We've only scored a few fifties. That's a major thing. If you want to compete with the big teams, you've got to have a good batting line-up that puts runs on the board."

"Yes, we are out of the World Cup, but there is still a lot of cricket to play after the World Cup. It's important for us to find the winning ways and find the winning formula going forward, so it is important for us to play this game as hard as possible."