Richard Mann has two bets in his staking plan for Tuesday's first ODI between England and Sri Lanka in Durham.
Cricket tips: England v Sri Lanka
2pts Joe Root to make a fifty at 6/4 (William Hill)
2pts Paven Rathnayake to score over 19.5 match runs at 5/6 (BOYLE Sports)
A format switch isn’t expected to be enough to bring about a change in fortunes for Sri Lanka who were thrashed 3-0 by England in their T20I series which ended with another one-sided affair in Manchester on Saturday.
50-over cricket does look a better fit for the tourists, but England are a white-ball outfit on a roll right now, and another home win is predicted when hostilities resume in Durham on Tuesday (12:30).
A decent weather forecast is the first boxed ticked, and I’ll begin by backing England talisman JOE ROOT TO MAKE A FIFTY.
Root ended what was a rare challenging summer in Test cricket by guiding his team to victory against Pakistan at Edgbaston, and his form in this format has remained outstanding.
In fact, Root is averaging a staggering 248.00 from six ODIs in 2026 thus far, with scores of 76 not out, 99* and 74* in July’s series win over India.
For good measure, he hit 61, 75 and 111* against this same opposition in three matches in Colombo back in January, confirming he has plenty going for him when donning the colours again in Durham.
Joe Root brings up a SIXTH consecutive ODI fifty, a feat no English player has previously managed 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mbUyx1xW6B
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 19, 2026
Root to be top England batsman made some appeal, but the openers might fancy filling their boots against a bruised opponent, so I’ll stick with the milestones.
England's 'anchor' in this format, Root is perfect betting material in 50-over cricket, and I'm happy to row in again.
Added to the staking plan is PAVEN RATHNAKAYE TO SCORE OVER 19.5 RUNS at 5/6, with BOYLE Sports the lowest line I can find.
That looks too low a line considering Rathnayake is a young player of real potential who was batting at number four in Sri Lanka’s last ODI action in the Caribbean in June.
Moreover, Rathnayake actually compiled a brilliant hundred (121) against England in January, again from number four, a position in the order which ought to prove a nice fit given the strength of the home new-ball attack.
With the weather set fair, we should get decent batting conditions in Durham, even this late in the summer, so I'm happy to back the batters on this occasion.
Preview posted at 15:25 BST on 20/09/26
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