West Indies out to maintain momentum

Having won the second Test to square the series, West Indies go into the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, which begins on Thursday, with momentum and more importantly, confidence as they look to clinch a home victory.

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I always thought West Indies would have had a better chance of winning the one-day series than the Test series, so the fact that they came from behind to draw 1-1 in the latter bodes well for their chances. In the past two years, West Indies have won more than 50 percent of their one-day games, which is not a bad record by any means. At home, it's even better. In that period, they have won 13 of 20 matches, losing six.

Now Sri Lanka are almost past-masters at the one-day game and will want to prove their supremacy after failing to close out the Test series, but there is almost nothing to choose between the two sides in the betting, with bet365 making West Indies 4/5 to win the series and Sri Lanka fractionally longer at 10/11.

Amazingly, the two sides have only ever played one full one-day series in West Indies. That was in 2003, when Sri Lanka won the first two games on the way to a 2-1 victory. So, there is little from the past that is of use when working out who will win this series.

A 2-1 win for West Indies is the favourite in the correct scores market, at 6/4, while a 2-1 win for Sri Lanka is just a touch longer at 13/8. A 3-0 whitewash for the home side is just 4/1 while if you fancy a 3-0 win for Sri Lanka, then you can get 5/1.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle is one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket when he is on his game and it's no surprise to see him at the top of the betting to be his side's top runscorer in the series.

Bet365 make him 3/1, the same as the classy Ramnaresh Sarwan. Gayle's average has been moving the right way in the past couple of years and it could be that the recent addition of the captaincy has helped him. The excellent Shivnarine Chanderpaul is next at 7/2 and then there's a big gap to Marlon Samuels and Sewnarine Chattergoon, who are both 13/2. Devon Smith is 10/1 and Dwayne Bravo is 12/1.

As expected, Kumar Sangakkar is favourite to be the top Sri Lanka runscorer, at 9/4, while captain Mahela Jayawardene is 5/2 and Upul Tharanga is 9/2. Chamara Silva is next at 13/2, while Tillekeratne Dilshan is 7/1.

I get the impression that this series means more to West Indies than Sri Lanka and home advantage will obviously help, and they could win it, so take them to come out on top at 4/5.

As for the first match, in Port of Spain, where they have a decent record, beating India both times in their most recent games there, in 2006, West Indies are 4/5 and Sri Lanka are 10/11.

Cambers' Call
West Indies to win series with Sri Lanka - 4/5 bet365

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.