Sri Lanka vs England 2018: ODI series – Statistical Preview

Last time when England toured Sri Lanka, the hosts were the superior team with experience on their side while England was backward in limited-overs formats. However, things have changed dramatically post the 2015 World Cup as England turned out to be the No.1 side in the ODI format. They are known for bringing an aggressive approach to every game. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has one of the worst records in these three years post the retirements of their senior players.

All the key stats and numbers ahead of the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka:

0 – Sri Lanka has not won any of their last nine bilateral ODI series. They lost eight of the last nine while a 3-match ODI series against Bangladesh at home earlier in 2017 ended in a draw. Interestingly, they won two out of the three ODI tournaments they appeared in this span since defeating Ireland 2-0 in June 2016.

1 – Only once England has won an ODI series in Sri Lanka which came in the 2007 five-match series (3-2). England played six bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka losing four of them and squaring the first one played way back in 1982.

3-9 – Sri Lanka’s win-loss record in their last 12 ODI matches while chasing. All those three wins for Sri Lanka came while chasing a target less than 200.

3 – England won only three of their last ten ODI matches in Sri Lanka. They won all those three matches with a margin on five wickets.

8 – England have won their last eight bilateral ODI series consisting of most than one match. Only Windies and India have won more than eight bilateral ODI series in a succession.

15 – England have won 15 of their last 16 ODI matches while chasing. Their only defeat while chasing came against Scotland which they lost by six runs chasing 372 to win.

48.39 – Sri Lanka dropped Angelo Mathews who scored 1597 runs in 47 ODI matches at an average of 48.39 since the completion of the 2015 CWC. He is the only Sri Lankan with 40+ average since the 2015 CWC in the ODI format.

59.77 – Jonny Bairstow’s batting average of 59.77 is the highest for any opener in the ODI with 1000+ runs. His batting strike-rate of 114.94 as an opener is also the highest among the players with 1000+ ODI runs.

213* – Joe Root scored 213 runs across his last two ODI innings without getting dismissed. He scored 113* and 100* against India in the recently concluded ODI series.

If Root scores a century in his next ODI innings, he will be only the second England player to score a hat-trick of tons in ODI format after Jonny Bairstow who also achieved it in 2018.

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