England vs Sri Lanka Prediction and Betting Tips: Three tips for First Test at Old Trafford
England get the second Test series of the summer under way at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday when they face Sri Lanka, but they will be without captain Ben Stokes, who tore his hamstring playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
Ollie Pope will lead the side in Stokes’ absence, with Harry Brook becoming the vice-captain.
Sri Lanka have won all three Tests they have played this calendar year, getting the better of Afghanistan and Bangladesh twice. However, this is a significant step up in class on their previous opponents and they face a stern test in the shape of the hosts.
England vs Sri Lanka First Test Predictions
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England have made it clear that they prefer not to draw matches under their new leadership, forcing the issue to produce a result even if that is sometimes to their detriment.
Yet their hand may well be forced by the Manchester weather that is forecast for this week.
With showers expected on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and heavy rain forecast for much of Thursday and Friday, a constricted Test match looks certain.
Old Trafford was famously the scene of the drawn Test in the last home Ashes series and the Manchester weather could once again play a big role.
To add to that, Ben Stokes is a key driver of the ultra-attacking style of this team and Ollie Pope may choose to be slightly more cautious.
Four of the last 14 Test matches between these two teams have been a draw and thanks to the weather, this could well be the latest, with bet365 offering odds of 5/1 for this outcome.
Ollie Pope is a player who tends to thrive under pressure and he may relish being given the captain’s armband for his country.
The number three has also been in solid form recently for England, making scores of 57, 121, 51 and 10 in the four innings he played for his nation in their three-game series win over the West Indies.
Pope failed to replicate that form for the London Spirit in The Hundred but the longer format is much more to his liking and with injuries to Zak Crawley and Stokes, he could be the player to step up and can be backed at odds of 5/6 to deliver over 68.5 match runs.
Gus Atkinson has impressed since making his England debut in the first Test against the West Indies earlier this summer.
He took 12 wickets in that clash and followed that with 10 more in the series to take his total to 22 from just three Tests.
Despite the inclusion of Matthew Potts and Mark Wood, Atkinson can still shine and is fancied to go over 4.5 match wickets at 4/5 with bet365.
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