A shocking defeat in the previous game leaves India with a lot of ground to make when they face Sri Lanka in the third and the final match of the seriess. Get our latest expert IND vs SL match betting tips, predictions and picks below.
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SL vs IND 3rd ODI Match Information
- Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Date: Wednesday, August 7
- Time: 2.30 pm local (9 am GMT, 2.30 pm IST)
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Quick IND vs SL 3rd ODI Preview
In what turned out to be a shock result for India, they lost the second ODI to Sri Lanka. Having missed out on winning the first game despite needing just one to win with two wickets in hand, India had set out to chase down Sri Lanka’s score of 240 in fine fashion in the second ODI.
Rohit Sharma proved to be batting on a different planet when he got India off to a flying start, scoring 64 off 44. India were 97/0 in 13.2 overs at that stage.
From that point onward, it was a Jeffrey Vandersay show who went through the Indian order to bag a match and MoM-winning six-fer. Rohit’s intent was matched by the rest of the batters’ ineptitude and it looked like this was a team that had forgotten to play on a turning track, losing by 32 runs.
Sri Lanka will be a cock-a-hoop given they were given no chance at the start of the series and now, two matches into it, haven’t lost a game. On the other hand, India will be taking a long, hard look at themselves and wondering what they can do to change things around.
One of the things that India might want to consider doing is to look at the likes of Rishabh Pant and Riyan Parag. Pant has the capability to take down slow bowlers, Parag can bowl a few overs of spin which Rohit Sharma desperately needs other than his three main spinners.
This could be seen from the fact that Shubman Gill bowled an over in the first ODI and Rohit himself rolled his arm over for a couple of overs in the second.
Sri Lanka don’t need to change anything unless they are looking to bring Wanindu Hasaranga back into the side. Trouble is that everyone has done well enough to retain their place in the side.
What Have The Two Teams Done Recently?
The first ODI between India and Sri Lanka ended in a tie, their second in a row after having finished like that in the T20I series as well. However, Sri Lanka came back strongly in the second game to stun India by 32 runs thanks to Jeffrey Vandersay’s six-wicket haul.
This was India’s first ODI loss to Sri Lanka in three years.
Overall, in ODI cricket, India’s last series came in December last year where they defeated hosts South Africa 2-1. This has been their only ODI series since their sterling but eventually losing World Cup 2023 final run.
Sri Lanka had an appalling run at the 2023 World Cup which meant they will miss the 2025 Champions Trophy. Since then, however, they have won six of their next eight ODIs – against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The two teams are coming off a three-match T20I series in which India triggered three Sri Lankan collapses to win it 3-0.
India defeated Sri Lanka in the opening game by 43 runs thanks to a sterling, man-of-the-match showing from Suryakumar Yadav in his first match as a captain under the tutelage of Gautam Gambhir. Riyan Parag grabbed a three-wicket haul after Axar Patel did some damage with the ball by grabbing two wickets.
In the second T20I, India chased down a rain-reduced total of 78 with nine balls to spare. Sri Lanka’s collapse had left them with just 161/9 on the board and an early downpour during the Indian innings meant they had only eight overs left to play. Ravi Bishnoi’s three-fer won him the man-of-the-match award to help India take a 2-0 lead.
The third T20I ended in a tie with Sri Lanka failing to chase down 30 from 30 with nine wickets in hand. In the Super Over that followed, Sri Lanka made just two and India won off the first ball.
This was after India came into this series following a top-notch showing in the T20 World Cup having won the title without dropping a game. In the first round, they defended 119 against Pakistan before routing Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Australia in the Super Eights stage to make the semifinal.
They avenged their 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal defeat to England at the same stage before recovering miraculously in the final to beat South Africa and lift the title.
Sri Lanka’s performance in that same tournament was anything but exemplary. They featured in four games in the first round and lost to South Africa and Bangladesh while winning only against the Netherlands.
As a result they crashed out of the competition in the first round itself having seen their game against Nepal getting washed out.
SL vs IND Head-to-Head Stats
- Overall India vs Sri Lanka Head-to-head: India leads Sri Lanka 99-58 in ODI cricket, which is one of their best records against any top tier teams.
- ODIs in Sri Lanka are contested quite closely though with India leading only 32-29 and one game ending in a tie.
- What’s interesting to note is that India was on a six-match winning streak in ODI cricket against Sri Lanka which included a whopping 302-run win in the ODI World Cup, a 10-wicket victory in the Asia Cup last year and a 317-run win in an ODI in Thiruvananthapuram – all of which came in 2023.
- The tie in the first ODI ended that run and the defeat in the third game meant that India had lost their first game to Sri Lanka in this format in three years.
Possible SL v IND 3rd ODI Playing XIs
Sri Lanka
India
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
SL vs IND 3rd ODI Predictions with Latest Odds*
SL vs IND Match Winner
- India to win: 1/3 (sign up with 1xbet)
SL vs IND Top Batsman
- Top India Batsman – Rohit Sharma: 3/1 (sign up with 1xbet)
- Top Sri Lanka Batsman – Pathum Nissanka: 3/1 (sign up with 1xbet)
SL vs IND Top Bowler
- Top India Bowler – Kuldeep Yadav: 7/2 (sign up with 1xbet)
- Top Sri Lanka Bowler – Dunith Wellalage: 10/3 (sign up with 1xbet)
SL vs IND Toss Prediction
India to win the toss: 10/11
SL vs IND Score Prediction
Team to Hit Most 6s – India: 1/2
*odds correct at the time of writing.
Photo Credit: vijay chennupati – Flickr: Indian team
