Timeless Series Set To End
- By Adam Currie on February 5, 2011 21:57 GMT
The comprehensive manner in which Sri Lanka disposed of the West Indies in the second ODI will be a boost for the host team today.
The 1996 World Cup winners reaffirmed their superiority in home conditions, and was a severe blemish for the visitors who had appeared to punch above their weight in the contests thus far.
The rescheduling of this series, due to intense floods a couple of months ago, has taken some of the shine off, with not too much being looked into moving to the ICC World Cup finale later this month.
Three matches in often wet conditions has hardly been ideal preparation, but both teams can take positives from the little cricket that has been played.
Upul Tharanga's century, and disciplined bowling performances in each of the two games have seen his stocks rise, while the West Indies will be buoyed by both Barath and Sarwan finding form.
Barath notched his maiden ODI century in the series, while Sarwan has seen a long run drought finally fade away.
West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Adrian Barath, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Kemar Roach.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Chamara Kapugedera, 4 Thilan Samaraweera, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Mahela Jayawardene, 7 Kumar Sangakkara (capt and wk), 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul had missed the second game due to illness. If he's back to strengthen the batting and the West Indies could be forced to leave out a bowler.
Chris Gayle is the man to watch in this final game. While notching up an impressive triple century in the Test series, he has yet to find his from in the shorter format.
The ever reliable Chanderpaul is also worth a punt at five even.
For Sri Lanka, the usual suspects of Dilshan and Sangakkara are favoured.
Playing at home there is little surprise that Sri Lanka is odds on here, with the West Indies yet to find their stride.
