West Indies vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI Predictions & Tips - Hope key to seeing off Sri Lanka

West Indies are down as favourites on home soil, with Sri Lanka missing some important batsmen. I'm backing West Indies opening batsman Shai Hope to provide the value in this clash. Hope has been in magnificent ODI form - and I'm tipping that to continue. The best bet is for Hope to score over 23.5 runs at the crease.

Sri Lanka lead the West Indies 11-2 in their last 13 completed ODI meetings.

Their last clash was in March 2020. Sri Lanka won by six runs in Pallekele.

The West Indies have not enjoyed the best of times in the 50-over format with six defeats in their last six matches. That includes two 3-0 series defeats to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, both away from home.

In fact, the six wins the West Indies have achieved over their last 24 ODI matches have all come against Ireland and Afghanistan.

The West Indies do have a far stronger squad available for this series after sending a very young side to Bangladesh. In three ODIs in Bangladesh, the Windies highest score was 177 runs.

Home conditions will suit the West Indies but they will need their star players to make contributions. Shai Hope has been especially brilliant in his most recent ODI matches with scores of 50+ in his last three innings'.

The West Indies are back to full strength after sending a weakened squad to Bangladesh in their last series.

The return of Shai Hope will give them plenty of confidence. The opening batsman averages 52.20 in his 78 ODI matches. Nicolas Pooran and Kieron Pollard will offer power hitting in the middle order.

Sri Lanka have not played ODI cricket for more than a year, although there has been plenty of T20 cricket played. Their last series was a home 3-0 victory over the West Indies in February 2020.

The Sri Lankans won their last match against the Windies by six runs after scoring 307 batting first in Kandy. Kusal Mendis top scored on 55 runs but there were contributions throughout the innings from the likes of Dimuth Karnaratne (44), Kusal Perera (44) and Dhananjaya de Silva (51).

Angelo Mathews took the man of the match award for his superb bowling figures of 4-59 as the hosts won by six runs.

Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando are three of Sri Lanka’s top ODI batsmen but none are in the squad.

Much of the run scoring responsibility will fall on captain, Dimuth Karunaratne at the top of the order. His last two ODI innings' have seen him score 44 & 52 runs.

The experience of Angelo Mathews will also have a key role to play whether with the bat or ball.