England vs Sri Lanka – Anderson to inspire another England win
Published:Alistair Cook is still unbeaten as England captain in one-day games and he can expect to extend this record to five matches when facing Sri Lanka at Headingley in the second showdown of their five-match series.
Match Odds
England began the series in emphatic fashion with a 110-run victory at The Oval and the expected cloudy conditions in Leeds will only support their chances of extending their advantage.
It is 4/6 in the cricket betting that England beat Sri Lanka and it is the quality of their bowlers at utilising swinging conditions that will be their biggest advantage.
Sri Lanka are 6/5 to beat England and will remember Headingley fondly from their last appearance in 2006, when they won by eight wickets after Steve Harmison finished with figures of 0/94 from his ten overs.
However, with Sanath Jayasuriya retiring for a second time after the defeat at The Oval, Sri Lanka will need to find somebody new to open the batting with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan.
One option may be to promote Kumar Sangakkara up the order, but with both he and Mahela Jayawardene averaging almost 20 less than their general average in England, they may decide to keep them in the middle order to bat when the ball is swinging around less.
Alternate Bets
James Anderson began the destruction of Sri Lanka at The Oval, dismissing most of the top order as he finished with figures of 4/18.
The cloudy conditions will be in his favour at Headingley and he will be keen to take the six wickets he requires quickly in order to have taken 200 in one-day internationals for England.
Therefore, one of the best bets of the second one-day match seems to be the 8/11 that Anderson takes a minimum of two wickets.
Graeme Swann is also 8/11 to take at least two wickets and he could prove a frustration to the Sri Lanka batsmen in the middle overs as they look to score some quick runs.
