England vs Sri Lanka: 5 things to look forward to

England would be locking horns with Sri Lanka for the third time in three World Cups. Sri Lanka hold an edge having beaten the English in the last two World Cups. In the two ODI series played last year, Sri Lanka won both – one at home and one away. It should also be noted that the Lankan side vanquished the English side in the 50-over ICC tournament – the Champions Trophy in 2013. It seems that the island nation has gathered enough impetus and the team has started to look menacing as a whole. The momentum gathered in the last two games would be put to test against a more competitive side in the game tomorrow. On the other hand, England will be hoping that the seamer-friendly condition would aid them trounce the Lankans.Here are five things to look forward to in the clash between the former colonizers and colonized:

#1 Lahiru Thirimanne vs James Anderson

After finishing off as the man of the series in the Asia Cup 2014, Lahiru Thirmanne was pulverised and harried by Jimmy Anderson in the ODI series in England, sending Thirimanne back to the pavilion 4 times out of five.

The major struggle for Thirimanne against Anderson was his inability to negate the movement Anderson gets with the new ball which sees him prodding at outswingers and tentatively pushing at inswingers. Maybe, it is too tough to be harsh on Thirimanne, given Anderson’s ability to set up batsmen with outswingers and beat their defence with inswingers. This is further elucidated by the type of batsmen in Anderson’s bunny list – both Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have been beaten on numerous occasions by the English bowler.

This battle will begin fresh in tomorrow’s game as the southpaw has once again regained his opening spot and would be facing the new ball from Jimmy Anderson’s arm. But the good news for Thirmanne is that Anderson has been poor in ICC tournaments, and the bowler is yet to swing the bowl with the same steam as he did in England.

#2 Moeen Ali vs Dilshan

The English opener was severe on the Lankan attack in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka in the Asian team’s home, thrashing the faster bowlers, in specific, all over the park. However, TM Dilshan was found to be Ali’s nemesis as he dismissed Ali on more than one occasion.

With conditions being primarily suited for faster bowlers, it will be exciting to see whether Angelo Mathews would open with Dilshan. If Dilshan opens and succeeds, then that would give Sri Lanka a lot of options during the middle overs.

At the same time, Mooen Ali’s exploits against Sri Lankan bowlers should not be forgotten and he would be itching to repeat his heroics once again on the big stage.

#3 The Tharanga conundrum

One of Sri Lanka’s most successful World Cup batsmen – Upul Tharanga – is back in the squad, and the team is forced to play him to prop up the ailing middle order. But the biggest headache for the Lankan think-tank is where do they play him?

Would Sri Lanka take the risk of splitting the successful partnership of Thirimanne and Dilshan to accommodate Tharanga at the top? Or would he be shoehorned in the middle order at possibly number 5? Should he play, will Dimuth Karunaratne be dropped? If so, will we see Chandimal at number 7 or would Perera be promoted to number 7 allowing the inclusion of Dushmantha Chameera? Only time will answer as even the management is unsure of the combination for tomorrow’s game.

#4 England\'s botched-up middle order

Since, Jonathan Trott’s departure, England have struggled to get a proper number three batsman. But James Taylor, coming into the England side in the series against Sri Lanka, solved England’s year-long problem by anchoring England’s innings and scoring at a rate of run-a-ball. But for reasons only known to themselves, the English management pushed Taylor lower down the order by bringing in Garry Balance to the number three slot. Ravi Bopara, England’s best finisher, was also expunged making Morgan the lone finisher.

Ballance has failed to yield results at number three, but the million dollar question is whether England would resort to their successful formula of playing Taylor at 3 and Bopara at 7?

#5 Can Thisara Perera fulfill the management\'s expectations?

Just a few days after Mahela Jayawardene acclaimed Perera’s match winning ability, Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan coach, has backed the all-rounder as well. It is well known that the big basher, when in form, can win any match, both with the ball and bat. The team has been fastidious and cautious in marking out Perera as the main player in the past, but the current blatant outward proclamation of Perera’s importance might give the fans an insight into Perera’s form.

The management would have possibly seen something in him that the fans are yet to and the portent has been received in the games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. He looked rhythmical with the ball and menacing with the bat. How he turns out tomorrow when his team needs him the most will define Sri Lanka’s campaign in this World Cup.