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Sri Lanka vs England 1st ODI Predictions - Brook to batter the Sri Lankan attack

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 21 Jan 2026

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Simon Lewis 21 Jan 2026

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Harry Brook has scored 45, 30, 41, 18*, 84 and 42 in his last six knocks.
Kusal Mendis has scored 40, 23 and 30 in his last five innings.
Can England get their World Cup preparations off to a winning start against Sri Lanka?

Expired

Harry Brook hits to leg against New Zealand (Getty Images).

Sri Lanka vs England Predictions

Both teams come into this series on the back of 3-0 ODI series defeats to Pakistan (Sri Lanka) and New Zealand (England).

Sri Lanka vs England Predictions
Head-to-Head
Sri Lanka Form
England Form
Sri Lanka vs England Team News

England’s Harry Brook averages 36.56 (1170 runs) in ODIs.
England’s Joe Root scored 138*, 39 and 160 in his last 8 innings.
Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis has scored 4751 runs (ave 34.93) in 148 ODI innings.
Sri Lanka’s Sadeera Samarawickrama has scored 40, 58 and 43 in his last 5 innings.

Head-to-Head

England have won two and lost two of their last five ODIs against Sri Lanka. One match was rained out.

Sri Lanka Form

Sri Lanka suffered two heavy defeats in their 3-0 ODI series defeat to Pakistan in mid-November.

Kusal Mendis scored 30 off 16 balls in the 3rd 20I against Pakistan 10 days ago. Pathum Nissanka was in good form during the International League T20, scoring 81, 67 and 56 in consecutive innings but hasn’t reached 20 in his last five innings. Sadeera Samarawickrama top-scored with 48 in Sri Lanka’s last ODI, against Pakistan. Kamil Mishara’s last six innings were 37, 38, 25, 91 and 20.

Matheesha Pathirana (2/34) and Wanindu Hasaranga (4/35) destroyed Pakistan’s run-chase in their last white-ball match to secure a 1-1 series draw.

England Form

England went down 3-0 to New Zealand in their last ODI series, which was back in November.

Harry Brook is in good form in red- and white-ball cricket, scoring 33, 135 and 34 in his last four ODIs. Joe Root has scored 7330 ODI runs at an average of 48.54. Sam Curran has scored 74* and 53* in his last four innings and taken 3/28 and 2/37 in his last two matches.

Adil Rashid has taken 21 wickets in his last 10 matches at an economy rate of 5.82 runs per over. Bryson Carse has taken two or more wickets in seven of the last nine innings he has bowled in.

Sri Lanka vs England Team News

Sri Lanka (possible XI): Nissanka, Mishara, Mendis, De Silva, Asalanka (c), Liyanage, Wellalage, Hasuranga, Fernando, Madushan, Malinga.

England (possible XI): Crawley, Duckett, Root, Bethell, Brook (c), Buttler, Jacks, Curran, Overton, Dawson, Rashid.

Verdict

Sri Lanka v England 1st ODI

I am backing England to win, with Harry Brook to top score.

Sadeera Samarawickrama

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