Sri Lanka vs. England: 7th ODI Date, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Sri Lanka and England meet for the seventh and final one-day international of the tour on Tuesday after the hosts wrapped up the series with a 90-run victory at Pallekele over the weekend. 

Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 16

Start Time: 9 a.m. GMT/2:30 p.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 hot and humid day reaching 30 degrees Celsius. However, afternoon thunderstorms look likely to impact the match and could make this a reduced-overs contest, particularly given the 90 percent chance of rainfall.

Overview

Dead-rubbers are often a lamentable and unavoidable occurrence on the international calendar. Typically, they take on the feel of a financial requirement rather than that of a competitive cricket match, as though they're a needless formality. 

But this one's a little different. There are storylines aplenty and a bigger picture that's immediately relevant. 

For Sri Lanka, Tuesday's final one-dayer is a home farewell for Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, the nation's golden pair of veterans who will play their last one-day international on home soil here against England. And for the latter, this clash will be his final international appearance of any sort in Sri Lanka, having already retired from Twenty20 and Test cricket earlier this year as he embarks on his final chapter, the World Cup. 

England, meanwhile, arrive back in Colombo for this seventh encounter surrounded by questions and uncertainties. Is Alastair Cook still the right man to captain? Does he have the backing of Peter Moores and team management? Is there a viable alternative? Who can lead them to a strong World Cup campaign? How can this side be transformed?

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Perhaps most telling, though, is the presence of this question: Are there any obvious answers for England?

Tuesday's clash will tell us more, with the rapidly approaching World Cup heightening the importance of each and every one-day international between now and February. 

Squads

Sri Lanka

Angelo Mathews (c), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sachithra Senanayake, 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 (Most Recent First)

Sri Lanka - WLWLWW

England - LWLWLL

Players to Watch

Sri Lanka

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

It will be impossible to take your eye off Sri Lanka's pair of esteemed veterans on Tuesday, with this being the last time the two great friends will represent their country on home soil together. 

Sangakkara, of course, made a memorable hundred in his final one-dayer on his home ground in Pallekele on Saturday, an innings that clinched the sixth match and the series for the hosts. 

You wouldn't bet against Jayawardene doing the same in his last match on his home ground in Colombo on Tuesday. 

England

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Whether or not it's fair, all eyes will be on Cook in this final encounter of the series. And the day could be a significant one for the England captain.

Without a score above 34 in the series—and with just one half-century in his last 21 ODI innings—Cook currently finds himself in a position where his mere place in the side, let alone the captaincy, is highly contentious. 

Though it's unlikely that England would make drastic changes to their one-day outfit so close to the World Cup, another disappointing performance in Colombo will only increase the pressure for selectors to take action.

Follow @TimDCollins