West Indies look to wrap it up

West Indies almost made a hash of things in the first match of the three-game one-day series against Sri Lanka but scrambled home and are now favourites to win Saturday's second match and seal the series victory.

The second match, like the first, will be played in Trinidad, which means we can expect a similar pitch and similar conditions to those the players found on Thursday. Bet365 make West Indies 8/11 (1.72) to win the match, with Sri Lanka even money.

There are two key things for me here. First, West Indies are growing in confidence. Success breeds success and the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor are burgeoning talents, while Chris Gayle's leadership is adding some solidity.

Second, Sri Lanka are obviously building for the future - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu are all absent and the investment in youth will doubtless pay off in the future. They did almost win the first match, it's true, but it would have been a travesty had they done so.

Having steered the Windies home in grand style in the opener, Shivnarine Chanderpaul is favourite at 10/3 to be his side's top runscorer in the second game. The left-hander is arguably his side's best batsman so that is really not a bad price.

Captain Gayle is next at 7/2, while Ramnaresh Sarwan is 4/1, Devon Smith 5/1 and Bravo, who really is an excellent player in every department of the game, is 6/1.

For Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara is the obvious favourite at 3/1, just ahead of his captain, Mahela Jayawardene, a 7/2 chance. Chamara Silva and Upul Tharanga are both 11/2, while Chamara Kapugedera, whose superb 95 gave Sri Lanka a chance in the first game, and Tillekeratne Dilshan are both 6/1.

There is little to choose between these two sides, that much is clear, but West Indies are beginning to get their tails up and they can win this one to clinch the series victory.