ICC Champions Trophy / Andrew Hughes / 24 September 2009 / Leave a comment

England get their Champions Trophy campaign underway with a tricky fixture against the rampant Sri Lankans. Can they spring a surprise? Andrew Hughes investigates

"If England do get first crack with the ball, there is a chance that the swing-friendly conditions could help Anderson and Sidebottom make early inroads."

Conditions

New Wanderers was the location for Wednesday's game between West Indies and Pakistan in which 15 wickets fell for 267 runs. Though the groundsman had stated that the pitch was not at its hardest, there was more than enough bounce to trouble all the batsmen and a green tinge about the surface too. Although this ground has a reputation as a high-scoring venue, we should remember that it is currently spring in South Africa and there is a touch of dampness in the air. With rain and cloud cover forecast for Thursday evening and Friday morning, it seems likely that conditions will suit swing bowling, as they did on Wednesday and whichever captain wins the toss will have to weigh up the pros and cons of batting in those conditions or under lights later on.

Team News

In normal circumstances, a 6-1 series defeat would result in one or two changes to the team but England have little room for manoeuvre, having already elected to bring the same squad that lost so comprehensively to Australia. They won't be playing two spinners at the Wanderers and will probably want Luke Wright's power hitting at number seven, meaning that Eoin Morgan and Adil Rashid will miss out.

Sri Lanka made a spectacular start to the competition and are unlikely to make changes. Nuwan Kulasekara was a little expensive at Centurion, but will find conditions more to his taste at the New Wanderers. Sanath Jayasuriya's days are numbered but it is inconceivable they would drop the old chap at this point.

Match Odds

By all accounts, it can take up to a week to acclimatise to the thinner air of the high veldt plateau, but England have only been out there for four days. The rushed nature of their preparation was unavoidable given their Natwest series commitments, but it is one more factor that stacks up against them ahead of their opening contest.

Sri Lanka are [1.44] to claim the win that would seal their place in the semi-finals and it is easy to see why. Tillakaratne Dilshan is in unstoppable form and Thilan Samaraweera has added extra depth to the middle order. And then there is the bowling. It is possible to master Ajantha Mendis, but it takes a while and thus far, every team who have faced him for the first time have struggled. It is hard to see England's timid batting line-up doing any better in their first encounter with the mystery spinner.

Still, if you are looking for reasons to take the [3.2] about an England win, there may be a small window of opportunity for Strauss's men. Sri Lanka like to bat first, backing themselves to defend pretty much any target. If England do get first crack with the ball, there is a chance that the swing-friendly conditions could help Anderson and Sidebottom make early inroads.

Top Batsman

Assuming that the pitch might be a little more bowler-friendly than we saw at Centurion, it is probably best to side with one of the reliable old hands, either Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom would be worth backing at [4.0] or higher. For England, only Andrew Strauss and possibly Owais Shah have the techniques to cope with the menace of Mendis and I would side with the England skipper at [4.0] or more.

Featured Market

The only area in which England dominated has the edge against Australia was in the opening partnership and with Jayasuriya struggling to lay bat on ball, you could do worse than side with England in the Opening Partnership market if you can get anywhere near [2.0]

Tags: Andrew Strauss, cricket betting, England, International Champions Trophy, Kumar Sangakkara