India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I Betting Tips 24/02/2022

February 24, 2022

Zohaib Ahmed, Senior Author

The 1^st T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played on Feb 24 (Thursday) at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The match is to begin at 7pm IST.

Teams Status

India

Fresh from sweeping West Indies, India now face another side of similar strength in the form of Sri Lanka.

The Men in Blue will be without Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur – all of whom have been rested for this home assignment.

With such a key quarter absent, greater responsibility will fall on the shoulders of names such as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer, who failed in the last T20I against the Windies so will be eager to put on a better showing here.

Sanju Samson and Jasprit Bumrah are also back for the home side.

Venkatesh Iyer impressed with his batting in the Windies series. If he can deliver with the ball as well, he has the potential of becoming a first-choice allrounder for Team India.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka have landed in India from Australia, where they recently played a five-match T20I series, losing 4-1.

Despite the lopsided scoreline, Sri Lanka were competitive in multiple games – especially the first two ones before Wanindu Hasaranga’s positive Covid result derailed the team. They still won the final T20, which was only a consolation but still.

Against Australia, it was their batting that often betrayed them, and captain Dasun Shanaka is well aware of that.

One man who did not betray the team in that series was Pathum Nissanka. Much is expected of him again in this series.

What Do the Sportsbooks Say?

Brand	India	Sri Lanka
	1.22	4.20
	1.216	4.56
	1.22	4.30

India are big favourites for the 1^st T20I. Parimatch has India priced at 1.22 and Sri Lanka at 4.20. Paripesa has India available for 1.216 and Sri Lanka for 4.56. Lastly, Sportsbet has India priced at 1.22 and Sri Lanka at 4.30.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Pathum Nissanka total runs over 19.5 @ 1.87

If a man can score against scary Australian bowlers in Australia, he most certainly can in India as well. We’ve made no secret of the fact that we here at BetNinjas think very highly of Pathum Nissanka and have a hunch that he could be a star in the making. Therefore, it’s only natural for us to back him to cover the modest 19.5-run spread. The odds have been sourced from Parimatch.

Tip: Total runs in highest scoring over – Under 19.5 @ 1.84

Sri Lankan batsmen did not impress on their tour of Australia but the bowlers certainly did, never conceding more than 164 runs in that five-match series. Therefore, we expect their bowlers to keep the runs in check against a weakened Indian batting unit. Similarly, we do not expect Sri Lankan batters to score freely because a) they are not that good and b) the Indian bowling unit is beefed up. The odds for this play have been sourced from Parimatch.

Conclusion

India should win this one as they are the far more stronger unit but the chance of Sri Lanka causing a surprise over the course of the series cannot be discounted either.

Zohaib Ahmed

02:10, 24 Feb 2022

Senior Author

Zohaib Ahmed

Senior Author

02:10, 24 Feb 2022

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.