England vs Sri Lanka Betting Tips 23/06/2021

15:47, 22 Jun 2021

Senior Author

15:47, 22 Jun 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The first T20I between hosts England and visitors Sri Lanka will be played on June 23 (Wednesday) at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The match is scheduled to begin at 11pm IST.

Teams Status

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will begin their tour of England without any match practice as both of their planned tour matches, one against Sussex and another opposite Kent, were cancelled. To face England in England without any practice can be a difficult task for a Sri Lanka side that:

– has lost all of its last four T20I series

– last won a T20I series in 2019

– has won just one of its last 11 T20I matches

– last played a T20I in England in 2016 and lost heavily.

Yet, this is the task handed to Kusal Perera’s young and inexperienced side that will again be without the experienced Angelo Matthews. While unfamiliarity at this stage is a problem, so will be a lack of middle-order balance, with most of the batters preferring to bat up the order – a problem Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur acknowledged in the buildup to the series but also assured that he has a solution.

England

Sri Lanka comes as a perfect rebound for an England side that just got embarrassed at home by New Zealand in their Test series. Days after that humiliation, England are now up against a Sri Lanka side that has all those unwanted stats mentioned above. A dominant victory in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka could restore some of the confidence the hosts lost recently.

England will be without Olly Stone for the series as he has once again suffered a stress fracture. In his place, Sussex pacer George Garton has been picked.

Also missing for England are Jofra Archer (elbow injury), Reece Topley (side strain) and Saqib Mahmood (abdominal strain), but Jonny Bairstow has kept his place despite nursing an ankle injury. Joe Root is also back in the squad but Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan have been axed.

What do the Sportsbook Say

Brand	England	Sri Lanka
	1.28	3.74
	1.27	3.74
	1.27	3.74

England are hot favourites for the match. 22Bet and LeoVegas both have England priced at 1.27 and Sri Lanka at 3.74. Meanwhile, Bet365 has England priced at 1.28 and Sri Lanka at 3.74.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Jos Buttler total runs over 26.5 @ 1.832

Jos Buttler averages a staggering 47 against Sri Lanka in T20Is, with his highest score being an unbeaten 73. The average of 47 is his highest against any other top team. It’s clear that he enjoys playing against the islanders, and with him opening the innings, it is quite likely that he’d cover the spread of 26.5 runs at odds of 1.832 (22Bet).

Tip: Team England with top bowler in match

We’d have of course tipped England to claim a victory in this match, if it wasn’t for the extremely short odds. The next best option would be to back an English bowler to finish with the best bowling figures in the match. Sri Lanka have bolstered their seam bowling ranks but truth be told none of their pacers should pose any threat to the English batters. England, too, will not be at their full strength in terms of pace but whatever side they send out should have enough to trouble Sri Lankan batters.

Conclusion

Anything but a dominant England victory will be a surprise. Sri Lanka are young, inexperienced and not at all used to playing in English conditions. Thus, the hosts should dominate barring a big surprise.