On-song Sri Lanka pose threat in shortened format

Tuesday, June 21
Start time 2pm local (1300 GMT)

The most recent shot played in contests between England and Sri Lanka was a vast six over midwicket, as Kusal Mendis dispatched Joe Root's offspin into the Tavern Stand during the soggy last rites of the third Test at Lord's. An irrelevance in the bigger picture, maybe, after England's thumping victories in the first two Tests at Headingley and Chester-le-Street, but an indication nonetheless of a squad with renewed confidence.

It has taken them several weeks to come to terms with the challenge of English conditions, but as the tour shifts focus from the five-day to the one-day formats, so too has the distance between the sides narrowed. Sri Lanka's valiant showing in that Lord's Test has been followed up by a brace of thumping victories over Ireland in Dublin - precisely the sort of challenge for which a demoralised outfit might have struggled to raise itself.

Instead, they enter the first ODI against England at Trent Bridge with expectation as well as hope. On the 2014 tour, they picked up the spoils in all three formats and though the Tests have eluded them time around, their draw at Lord's has at least left the nascent Super Series with the faintest of pulses. Sri Lanka trail 10-2 with 12 points still up for grabs in the coming six matches - therefore a 5-0 clean sweep (as Sri Lanka achieved on the 2006 tour) would leave the fate of the series hanging on next month's one-off T20.

Sri Lanka have, however, suffered another shocking moment of misfortune where their bowling attack is concerned, with the news of Shaminda Eranga's hospitalisation for an irregular heartbeat. He would have been ruled out of the series anyway, after the ICC confirmed on Sunday that his bowling action - reported as suspect during the Durham Test - has been found to be illegal, but such health concerns make other issues pale into insignificance.

With Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera already ruled out of the tour with injury, Sri Lanka's fast-bowling stocks are running alarmingly low. That said, Dasun Shanaka's wobbly seamers were an incisive threat against Ireland, and with a glut of allrounders in their ranks, Sri Lanka are adept at cobbling together combinations for all conditions. England, who have lost each of their last three ODIs, following the collapse of their resolve against South Africa earlier this year, will be taking little for granted.

England: LLLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WWLWL

From his integral role at the World T20, and then on through his maiden stint with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, Jos Buttler has been both central and peripheral to England's fortunes in the past few months. Ever since his axing from the Test team in November, Buttler has been regarded as a one-day specialist, but the emphasis where he is concerned is clearly on the "special". A player of such phenomenal power, poise and technique has been absorbing lesson after lesson during an invaluable sojourn in India, and those are now ripe for translation back into the ODI arena.

Kusal Perera was a notable and frustrated absentee from Sri Lanka's World T20 campaign - the mysteries surrounding his failed drugs test deprived a young player of one of the highlights of his career, and his team of one of their likelier game-changers - how different that seminal group-stage clash against England in Delhi might have been with his explosive qualities at the top of the order. He hinted that he was in a hurry to resume his career with a lively cameo in the Lord's Test. The coming weeks will surely remind everyone of what Sri Lanka have been missing in recent months.

Ben Stokes' absence in England's middle order creates a minor dilemma for the selectors, who will surely be tempted to unleash Jonny Bairstow's sky-high batting confidence, albeit at the expense of a modicum of team balance. Moeen Ali can expect to slot in at No.7, Steven Finn is fit to resume his role as the leader of England's ODI attack, while Chris Woakes and David Willey provide contrasting swing options with right and left-arm respectively. Eoin Morgan, the captain, is somewhat short of runs in recent England outings, but he is set to appear at No. 4.

England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 David Willey, 11 Steven Finn.

Sri Lanka's batting order is anyone's guess, let alone their actual line-up, following the contests in Malahide in which two nominal frontline batsmen, Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga, popped in at No. 8 and 9 respectively. Seekkuge Prasanna's devastating pinch-hitting in the second contest pillaged nine sixes in a thrilling 95 from 46 balls, so he'll be ripe for another foray up the order if the mood takes him. Eranga's absence leaves a vacancy in the seam-bowling ranks, so there is potential for a recall for the offspinner, Suraj Randiv.

Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Upul Tharanga, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Angelo Mathews (capt), 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Suraj Randiv / Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Suranga Lakmal

There's little prospect of Trent Bridge offering the sort of 400 v 400 belter on which Nottinghamshire and Northants went toe-to-toe earlier this month. Since June 10, when the game against Derbyshire was washed out, the groundsman reckons the pitch has had four hours of sun and 100mm of rain.

"It's a key summer in that we're 12 months down the road and we have built a lot of confidence. There's a bit more expectation on us as a side and it's important to relish that expectation."
England captain, Eoin Morgan, wants to keep building on his team's recent upsurge in white-ball cricket

"We need more guys coming to England and playing a lot of cricket to get used to these conditions. The more you play you more you get used to them so we need more guys coming in, playing league cricket, county cricket, that'll be very beneficial for us going into the World Cup in 2019.
Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, would like his players to get more exposure in the UK