England look to build on winning feeling

Friday, July 1, Headingley
Start time 10.45am (0945 GMT)

Alastair Cook's return to the England captaincy earlier this week could hardly have gone more swimmingly - literally, at one stage, after a thunderstorm had turned the Oval outfield into a boating lake and shaved 18 overs off the innings allocation. On a personal note, he didn't have the best of days, as Lasith Malinga strangled him down the leg-side for a three-ball 5, but with four wins out of four in his ODI captaincy career, he's doing his utmost to dispel the doubts about his suitability for the role.

The ODI roadshow heads for Headingley on Friday, a venue where, in 2006, Sri Lanka handed out one of the most astonishing beatings ever seen in a 50-over international. England were already 4-0 down in the five-match series, but believed they'd done enough to salvage some pride by posting 321 for 7 in their 50 overs. Instead, a devastating opening stand of 286 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga allowed Sri Lanka to romp home by eight wickets with an incredible 12.3 overs left unused.

Jayasuriya, of course, bowed out of international cricket during Tuesday's match at The Oval, where the final act of his 445-match ODI career was to pound a cut into the hands of Eoin Morgan at point. Though his influence as a batsman has waned in recent years, his boots remain vast ones to fill, and with Tharanga also out of action due to suspension, Sri Lanka will be hoping that their fit-again captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan, can put a month of inactivity behind him and rediscover the form that carried him to three centuries and a fifty in his first four matches of the tour.

After a crushing win in the Twenty20 in Bristol and a crushing defeat four days later at The Oval, the one-day leg of Sri Lanka's tour has been topsy-turvy to say the least. A 32-over contest is no real indication of 50-over form, however, and though James Anderson was outstanding in reducing Sri Lanka to 15 for 4 in his first three overs, Mahela Jayawardene reckoned the reduction in overs was a key factor in their demise, as they took too many early risks in chasing a stiff target of 232. If the rain holds off, and a full contest can play out, we may get a better indication of where the current balance of one-day power really lies.

England WLWLW
Sri Lanka LLWWW

Stuart Broad is under pressure for his place like never before. His stock within the England dressing-room remains as high as ever, but compared to the angry mongrel who hassled and hurried all batsmen in 2010, this season he has been disturbingly toothless. Despite possessing (in the opinion of England's bowling coach, David Saker) the "best bouncer in world cricket", his short balls have lacked venom of late, as if he no longer trusts a body that broke down on him twice in the winter - once at Adelaide during the Ashes, and again in Chennai during the World Cup. A haul of wickets would help settle his mind, but they remain elusive for now.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's comeback from a broken thumb was so brief it was hard to ascertain whether his form has elapsed in the interim. His innings was only two balls old when he wafted an Anderson short ball to fine leg and trudged off for a single, and he didn't bring himself on to bowl either. Sri Lanka need him to return to his explosive best, although at least, having been through two stand-in captains in Kumar Sangakkara and Thilina Kandamby, the team is finally back with the appointed leader at the helm.

There's no real reason for England to tinker with a winning combination. Craig Kieswetter produced a diligent 61 from 56 balls to answer his critics at the top of the order, and with the exception of Broad, all of England's front-line bowlers chipped in with wickets in the Oval victory. With Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan looking in ominous form, the engine-room of the batting is in fine fettle as well.

England (probable) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Jade Dernbach.

Jayasuriya's retirement creates a vacancy at the top of the Sri Lankan order, which is likely to be filled by Mahela Jayawardene, after his return to form in that position in the Bristol Twenty20. Dinesh Chandimal could be restored to the middle order, while the bowling attack will once again be spearheaded by Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt) 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Nuwan Kulasekera, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Lasith Malinga,

England's mini-heatwave may have subsided, but the weather is still set fair for Friday, with temperatures in the low-20s and a 10% chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

"Oh, you're talking about 2006 - thanks for reminding me about that."
Tim Bresnan prefers not to dwell on his debut experience against Sri Lanka five years ago.