Sri Lanka vs England, 2018: 5 reasons why Sri Lanka can beat England

The spin trio led by the talented Akila Dananjaya could rattle the English batsmen

Akila Dananjaya

A big advantage of playing in the spin-friendly, slow pitches in Sri Lanka is that the spinners will define where the series is headed. Pitches even in ODI’s in Sri Lanka are spin-friendly apart from being flat belters. It’s the lack of ability and skill of the touring teams to play spin that leads to their downfall.

Similar would be the threat for England in this ODI series. Sri Lanka have variety in their spin department. They have the left arm chinamen Lakshman Sandakan, a left arm off-spinner in Amila Aponso and Akila Dananjaya who is the leader of the pack.

In hot and humid conditions which would be on offer when England play in Sri Lanka, these spinners can make things real hard for the visitors. Although players like Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales have a good amount of IPL exposure which makes their battle against spin less hard, the challenge of tackling these spinners on their home turf would be daunting.

It is this battle- Sri Lanka’s spinners against England’s attacking batsmen which would define the outcome of this series. Can the Sri Lankan spinners deliver, or will the visitors dominate?