MoneyBall9 Fantasy guide: England v Sri Lanka 3rd ODI
For a long time, the England side was guilty of not taking the attack to the opposition, especially in the limited overs format. They used to approach the ODIs with a Test match mindset, which led to their downfall. But this new crop of English players have found a way to distinguish between 5-day and one-day cricket.
While the basic technical skills remain the same, there is a huge difference with respect to the way you approach both these formats, and having different sets of players for both formats has resulted in great success for English cricket.
Alex Hales and Jason Roy, two players who have had a huge role to play in this transformation, stood up and demolished the Sri Lankan attack in the 2nd ODI to gift the English side a comprehensive victory.
Also check out – Eng v SL, 3rd ODI Preview: Sri Lanka hope to recover from the drubbing
The Sri Lankan batting unit looked a bit weary and had to pay the price for that.
Let’s get to business now!
England vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI
Batsmen
Jason Roy and Alex Hales will be my first pick for the MoneyBall9 Fantasy league. Before the last game as well I had stressed on the fact that these two along Jos Buttler have pioneered the transformation in the limited overs English team. And their thumping performance in the last game was a reflection of that.
Joe Root hasn’t got much of an opportunity to shine in this series but that doesn’t mean he is bereft of talent or skill. He is England’s Virat Kohli and in all probability will be amongst the runs in tomorrow’s game. Get him in!
Wicketkeeper
Between Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis and Jos Buttler; I opt for Kusal Perera because of the fact that he opens the innings and thus gets the maximum chance of making a significant impact.
With Jos Buttler, there is always this risk that he may be demoted to number 6 and thus won’t be able to make much of an impact, especially in pressure situations.
All Rounder
Seekkugge Prasanna is my all rounder for this game in the MoneyBall9 Fantasy league. All through the UK tour, he has been great with both bat and ball. England traditionally isn’t a great player of leg spin bowling and Prasanna has all the skill in the world to exploit that weakness. Also, his pinch-hitting and late order hitting skills come in very handy.
Bowlers
Suranga Lakmal has been a revelation for Sri Lankan cricket after the departure of Lasith Malinga and has been pretty effective in this tour as well. You just have to get in the Sri Lankan spearhead.
Liam Plunkett has played brilliantly in the last two games, picking 4 wickets and scoring that crucial 22 to tie the first ODI.
Nuwan Pradeep has picked up 3 wickets on this tour and comes in at just Rs 5000 which gives me a good chance to bring in other high-cost players.
Flexible Player
Angelo Mathews is my flexible player for this game. He comes in at 5 and bowls at least 7 overs. That makes him a perfect fit for the flexible player position.
Happy team picking!
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