The last week has seen India and Sri Lanka play out three entertaining T20 matches. While the series went down to the third game after India snatched the first by two runs and Sri Lanka bounced back through a 16 run win in the second, the home side ultimately prevailed with a dominant performance in the final game.
Now, the nations will switch format and do it all again with three One Day Internationals scheduled for the next week. Can Sri Lanka gain some redemption by winning this series or will India leverage off their dominant win in the final T20 to steamroll their neighbours in this one? We bring all the best bets and latest odds from bookmaker William Hill to help you decide.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 9th, 12:00 A.M. (GMT)
Clearly, there’s little doubt in the mind of bookmaker William Hill about who is likely to prevail in the first of three ODIs on Tuesday, the 10th of January. With odds of 1.08 in favour of India against Sri Lanka’s 8.00, India is an almost 93% favourite to win here.
While it’s likely that India will win this match, these odds seem overly harsh and may provide a betting opportunity. Looking at the recent form of both these sides in ODI cricket, India most recently lost a three match series against their neighbour Bangladesh. The cricketing giants were similarly huge favourites in that series, yet lost the first two games and only won the final dead rubber match. For Sri Lanka, they recently drew an ODI series with Afghanistan, chasing down 313 in the third ODI to do so.
India’s strength at the moment is their batting, which can be ferocious when it gets going. Just the other night in the final T20 between these two teams, India plundered 228/5 courtesy of a 51-ball 112* by Suryakumar Yadav. A few weeks ago, they also made 409/8 in an ODI with Ishan Kishan striking a double century. However, India needs to remain focused as several stuttering performances with the bat were also their downfall against Bangladesh.
For Sri Lanka, when they win it tends to be a real team performance. They don’t have a Suryakumar Yadav or Virat Kohli in their side, but they can turn a game into a niggly arm wrestle and come out victorious. Back Sri Lanka to win at least one game in this series—the bold punter would wager on the first match for a 8.00 return, but the more conservative bettor would take odds of 2.37 for India to win the series 2-1.
