THURSDAY ODI: The Edge previews Sri Lanka v England with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Sri Lanka v England 1st ODI
MATCH OVERVIEW:
England are back in action after their disastrous Ashes tour as they begin their tour against Sri Lanka on Betdaq Betting Exchange . We have three ODI’s followed by three T20’s as the International sides build up to the next T20 World Cup. With all the focus on the upcoming T20 World Cup, it’s quite easy to brush over this ODI series – however, England have been in crisis in the ODI format for a while now. Wins have been hard to come by, and we have an ongoing debate around how bad the domestic 50 over competition is. The ECB run it alongside the Hundred, so effectively no top stars play domestic 50 over cricket anymore.
On paper, England should be beating Sri Lanka – they haven’t been a force in world cricket for many years now. They’ve been through a big period of transition and the younger players just haven’t stepped up. It will actually be fascinating to see can England beat them given Sri Lanka will have home conditions. Obviously England are under immense pressure in ODI’s too; International cricket never seems to slow down these days – are we even over the Ashes fallout yet? A lot of very negative stories have come out since the Ashes loss and that have made Brendon McCullum look quite bad.
The Aussie’s spent the last few months shouting that Bazball is dead, if England don’t have a smooth ODI and T20 series here before heading to the T20 World Cup – a poor showing there might actually be the death of Bazball!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We have the three ODI’s all in Colombo. There’s an immense amount of history from Sri Lankan grounds, and it is a slight shame we have the three ODI’s at the same venue and then we also have the three T20’s in Pallekele. I suppose it’s good for travelling England fans! We’ve had plenty of ODI cricket here recently – in 2025 Sri Lanka hosted four ODI’s here. The first inning scores were 214 all out (won), 281/4 (won), 244 all out (won) and 248 all out (won). Sri Lanka beat Australia twice here in 2025, and they also beat India twice in 2024 here too. The last six ODI’s have been won by the team batting first.
RECOMMENDED BET:
In general, England have been known to start their tours quite slowly. There is a gulf in class between the sides on paper, but I still wouldn’t be rushing to back England at 1.8 here given their recent performances in the ODI format. Sri Lanka aren’t really a side that you can rely on; however you could quite easily say the same about England too! Sri Lanka are 2.2 and England 1.8 – I actually feel batting first will be a massive edge here, and I’d recommend backing the side who bats first.
The Edge Says:
Two points win The Side Who Bats First (Sri Lanka 2.2 or England 1.8) with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/SriEng
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The history of this ground would suggest batting is quite difficult – even very difficult at times – and given recent scores, I feel batting first will be a massive edge here. I would even go as far to say that I do feel that will go a long way to deciding the game. It’s quite easy to pick holes in both sides here – Sri Lanka haven’t been at their best for a number of years now and obviously England are in crisis in the ODI format. I would happily support the side who bats first for small stakes, and then back them to defend the score at the innings break. 214 all out has been defended here last year.
