England all-rounder flies home, replacement named

After the first ODI at Dambulla ended in no result, England won the second ODI by 31 runs under the DLS method. Now, both the teams will meet at Pallekele for the third ODI scheduled to start on Wednesday noon.

England leads the 5-match ODI series by 1-0 and might miss the services of the all-rounder, Liam Dawson when they take on Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Dawson, who was the part of playing in both the games, complained about side strain and skipped Monday’s training session. However, nothing concrete can be said as of now and Dawson will be assessed by medical staff over the next couple of days.

In both the ODIs, England opted to go with three spinners- Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson. If Dawson misses out the match, England will have to pick an extra seamer. Mark Wood, Tom Curran and Sam Curran will be in contention to get a chance. All the three have remained on the bench and might get a chance in the third ODI.

Surprise Visitor:

England encountered a surprise visitor in their training session when a cobra was spotted near the pavilion. Ground staff immediately got into their job and removed the cobra from the vicinity.

A surprise visitor to training this morning… ? pic.twitter.com/ETdHFMuQ2x

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 15, 2018

Encountering snakes in Sri Lanka is not new. It’s not the first time Cobra has been spotted near the ground or pavilion. In England’s 2007 tour, two were spotted on the boundary’s edge during a warm-up match in Colombo.

Squads:

Sri Lanka- Dinesh Chandimal(c), Kasun Rajitha, Upul Tharanga, Lasith Malinga, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Amila Aponso, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera,   Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Kusal Perera

England- Sam Curran, Eoin Morgan(c), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett,  Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Liam Dawson,  Mark Wood