Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 1st ODI Cricket Betting Tips – Feb 22nd, 2020

• Match: Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 1st ODI, West Indies tour of Sri Lanka, 2020
• Date: Saturday, February 22, 2020
• Time:  04:15 AM GMT
• Venue: Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo

Match Preview

The West Indies will begin their tour of Sri Lanka with a 3-match ODI series which commences on February 22 at Colombo. The two sides haven’t played a bilateral ODI series since 2015 and it would be interesting to see how things fare here. The Kieron Pollard-led West Indies are a power-packed bunch and will be making their presence felt. 

Sri Lanka

At the time of writing, the Lankan squad for the series had not been announced. However, you can expect to see a few familiar faces for sure. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka, who had scored a terrific 133 in Sri Lanka’s last ODI against Pakistan, is expected to play a key role. Avishka Fernando has been a star for the side and should be making an impact. Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya and all-rounder Dasun Shanaka will be the other ones to watch out for with the bat.

Sri Lanka’s bowling will largely be dependent on the performances of Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanindu Hasaranga. It is an inexperienced bowling line up and can end up leaking runs against the might of the West Indies. 

West Indies

The West Indies team is all about brute power in limited overs cricket. In Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran they have two destructive batsmen. Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope and Darren Bravo will provide stability to the batting order.

Their bowling too has good variety with Sheldon Cottrell leading the charge along with the stable Jason Holder. Alzarri Joseph, Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh give further zip to this bowling unit.

Sri Lanka vs West Indies 1st ODI Cricket Betting Tips

In the last 5 ODIs between Sri Lanka and West Indies, the Lankans have won 4 and lost just once. This shows that they have managed to outclass the Windies in 50-over cricket in recent times. Their last encounter was in the ICC World Cup 2019 in England where Sri Lanka won a high-scoring and close encounter by 23 runs. 

The Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo – the venue for the 1^st ODI between these two sides – has been a good ODI wicket. It provides assistance to the slower bowlers but batsmen will have a good time here too if they manage to stick in. The average score batting first here is 205 but the highest total achieved on the venue is 343-5 by Pakistan against Hong Kong in 2004. 

The team batting first would be targeting a total of around 260-270 runs and chasing on this pitch will not be easy.

West Indies will come hard at Sri Lanka and may end snuffing them with their batting power. However, Sri Lanka will certainly reap benefits of the home advantage and their spinners should be able to put the Windies batsmen in a tangle. Expect a close game but back Sri Lanka to win the first ODI.