After winning the opening match of the series, England will be looking to wrap up their three-match series against Sri Lanka when the 2nd Test gets underway on Thursday. The hosts are the betting favorites, and in our cricket betting picks we tell you the best bets to place on the match.
- What: 2nd Test Match
- Who: England vs. Sri Lanka
- Where: Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood, London
- When: Aug 29th - Sept 2nd
- Time: 6 am ET
In the latest World Test Championship standings, England are 4th and Sri Lanka are 5th. A win for England would see them extend their percentage lead over the hosts and close in on the top three of India, Australia, and New Zealand. A win for Sri Lanka would see them go 4th at the expense of England.
The benefit of the new WTC feature is that if England wins this Test match the series is over. But instead of the third match being a dead rubber, it instead has WTC points resting on it, making it a competitive fixture.
England vs. Sri Lanka betting
In the latest Test match betting, the best cricket betting online sites have England as a massive odds-on favorite. On the money line, England is -400. The draw is +900, and a win for Sri Lanka is +550.
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | -400 | -400 | -400 |
| Draw | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| Sri Lanka | +550 | +550 | +550 |
England without injured Stokes, Crawley, and Wood
England are still without their injured captain Ben Stokes. The inspirational skipper is out for the whole of the series, as is batter Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence will continue to deputize for the opening batter.
Joining Stokes and Crawley on the sidelines for the 2nd Test is fast bowler Mark Wood.
Into Wood’s place comes Olly Stone. The Nottinghamshire quick is a like-for-like replacement and is the only change for England, as they continue to use the same attacking game plan they have employed all season.
🔄 We've made one change from Old Trafford...
Welcome, Olly Stone 🤝
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 27, 2024
England has also followed the tactic of naming their team early for some time lately. The regime has been happy to give their opponents notice of the playing XI a couple of days before the start of the match since Ben Stokes took charge of the team.
Sri Lanka looking to build on 1st Test positives
As for Sri Lanka, they can take heart from what turned out to be a gutsy performance.
The visitors found themselves at 6/3 on the first morning of the match. So to push England as hard as they did from such a poor position has to be a huge positive.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka was starting to carve out a second-innings lead when they were undone by a ball change by England, prompting criticism from veteran batter Angelo Mathews, who claimed the ball change altered the momentum of the game.
Sri Lanka may be without wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Chandimal who received a painful blow to his right thumb from Mark Wood. At the time, things didn’t look good for Chandimal, who had to be taken to hospital for an X-ray.
Even though the resulting scan gave Chandimal the all-clear to play in the 1st Test, it doesn’t automatically mean he will be fit enough to start the 2nd Test.
Chandimal was one of Sri Lanka’s better performers in the first match of the series at Old Trafford. His gutsy 79 in the second innings was one of the main reasons why Sri Lanka was able to set England a total.
If he's not fit, he will be a huge miss for the visitors.
England vs. Sri Lanka betting picks
For our match-winner pick, we have to go for an England win. The hosts looked too strong for Sri Lanka throughout the opening match and we can see them having too much for the visitors again.
At cricket betting odds of -400, England may be too short for some punters’ liking, so we are naming some alternative picks.
Top better picks
To be the top match batter in the 1st innings, Jamie Smith of England is +850. Smith top scored for England in the 1st Test with 111.
Okay, you may ask, is he likely to do it again?
We feel he is worth the risk. He has steadily improved all summer, starting brightly against the West Indies, and getting even better against Sri Lanka.
England’s top order hasn’t looked convincing. So a bet on Smith is worth the risk.
Also worth the risk is a wager on Kamindu Mendis.
In the 2nd innings of the 1st Test, Mendis scored 113. His century against England follows from an impressive return against Bangladesh where he recorded scores of 102, 164, and 92 not out.
Like Jamie Smith, Kamindu Mendis is in outstanding form and is worth backing to be the top 1st innings run-scorer at odds of +4000. Yes, that’s correct.
Top bowler pick
Finally, Chris Woakes took six wickets at Old Trafford in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka. The England seamer looked back to his best.
In the Test match against the West Indies at Lord’s earlier in the summer, Woakes was out of form and only took one wicket.
He will want to make amends for that performance and looks worth backing to get over 4.5 match wickets at -110.
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