Sri Lanka vs. England 2nd ODI: Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview
Sri Lanka and England meet for the second one-day international of their seven-match series on Saturday, with the hosts carrying a 1-0 lead after their 25-run victory Wednesday.
Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Date: Saturday, Nov. 29
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Start time: 4:30 a.m. GMT/10 a.m. local
Live on: Sky Sports (United Kingdom), CSN (Sri Lanka), Fox Sports (Australia), Willow TV (United States and Canada)
Weather: The Weather Channel is forecasting a warm day reaching 28 degrees Celsius. Morning thunderstorms could impact the start time of the match.
Overview
Games of cricket have never felt as immaterial as they do right now. In the wake of the tragic passing of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, the entire cricketing community currently stands united in its compassion for the Hughes family and unsure of where to go from here.
Indeed, discussions have been had around the world as to whether matches should continue as planned, with the first Test between Australia and India scheduled to start next week now in doubt, per ESPN Cricinfo.
For their part, England and Sri Lanka have decided to go ahead with Saturday's second one-day international in Colombo and want the match to be a tribute to Hughes.
The hosts, therefore, will look to continue their hold over England in the 50-over game, while Alastair Cook's men come into this contest knowing another loss will have them facing a deficit that's likely to prove extremely difficult to overturn away from home against a fine limited-overs side.
For Sri Lanka, the task is simple: Maintain the batting dominance witnessed on Wednesday, and contain England's middle order with spin outside the powerplay overs.
England's assignment, however, is a little more complex. In the series opener, only the emerging Moeen Ali got going among the visitors' top six, continuing a troubling trend for England in a limited-overs year defined by a dated batting approach.
Thus, Cook's side must conjure an answer of their own to Sri Lanka's batting power while also finding a way to be more incisive and threatening with the ball on these docile surfaces.
Squads
Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews (c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shaminda Eranga, Lahiru Gamage, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne
England
Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes
Form Lines
Sri Lanka - WLLLL
England - LWLLL
Key Players
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's top order endured a rough time in India recently, consistently outclassed by their Indian counterparts and unable to set any sort of platform for the talented middle order.
In Wednesday's series opener, however, Tillakaratne Dilshan was the catalyst in an improved display from Angelo Mathews' men, reaching an opening stand of 120 with Kusal Perera and posting a fine 88 in quick time for the home side.
With that foundation set, Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene were able to drive Sri Lanka to the sort of commanding total that escaped them in India.
Dilshan, therefore, stands as his team's key figure ahead of Saturday's second clash and can help to take the game out of England's reach with a similar performance.
England
Asking Moeen to repeat Wednesday's performance would be to expect too much from the talented all-rounder at this early stage in his international career.
In fine form he may be, but the left-hander needs support around him—particularly from those with considerable experience.
Thus, Ian Bell must be the one to lead the way for England, with his combination of technical proficiency and sumptuous stroke play the sort of qualities Cook's men can build an innings around.
And had he kicked on from his 35 in the series opener, the visitors might have been able to push Sri Lanka harder in their chase of 318.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
