Sri Lanka look to bounce back in fourth ODI today

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka will have their final chance to save the five-match One-day International (ODI) series when they face England at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday (today).

England have been living up to their No. 1 status in the series. Since the first ODI, which was washed out in Dambulla after just 15 overs, Sri Lanka have been outplayed in whatever play has been possible in between the rain breaks over the next two matches.

In the second ODI, England amassed 278-9 in 50 overs before persistent rain shrunk Sri Lanka’s target to 172 from 29 overs. But the hosts fell short of the target by 31 runs, after four of their top-five batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores.

In Kandy, Sri Lanka were restricted to 150-9 in 21 overs, and England chased that down in 18.3 overs, with their captain Eoin Morgan scoring his second half-century of the series.

Sri Lanka now need to show some of the fight they displayed in their last home series, against South Africa in August, when after sliding to 3-0, they fought back to end the series 3-2 to take the gloss off the visitors’ victory.

If Sri Lanka can summon spirit similar to that, they might yet avoid a loss in this series. But for that to happen, they will need their batsmen to step up.After the third ODI, Niroshan Dickwella, the wicketkeeper-batsman, didn’t mince words about his side’s batting efforts, and his own.

“I can’t be satisfied with my performance,” he said. “A lot of times I get 30 or 40, but only about one in five games do I get 70 or 80. Even though I’ve got starts, I haven’t capitalised and turned them into big innings.”

It is something the rest of the batsmen can relate to as well. Their bowling is good enough — Lasith Malinga has hit the ground running since his return — and if the batsmen can perform and provide support, this series might yet provide the home fans some cheer.

Meanwhile, Johnny Bairstow has emerged as an injury doubt ahead of the fourth game after injuring his right ankle during England’s training session on Friday.Bairstow, who went past 1000 ODI runs for the calendar year during England’s seven-wicket win in the third match, suffered the injury while playing football on the outfield.

He will be assessed by the team medical staff and a decision on his availability will be made before the start of the game. If the injury has not cleared up overnight, he is expected to undergo a scan when the squad arrives in Colombo ahead of the fifth and final ODI next week.

However, Bairstow will be hugely reluctant to vacate his place at the top of the order. In the build-up to England’s World Cup campaign, he is in the midst of a three-way tussle for two opening berths, alongside Jason Roy and Alex Hales.