Sri Lanka look to bounce back in ODI series against Windies

Sri Lanka will look to put behind a disappointing T20I series defeat as they begin their three-match One Day International series against the West Indies in Antigua today. 
After losing the opening T20I by four wickets, Sri Lanka bounced back to level the series with a comfortable 43-run win, but they let the series decider slip away in the penultimate over of the match losing by three wickets. 

Sri Lanka named a 20-member squad for the limited over series in the West Indies, and while a majority of those who featured in the T20I series are likely to feature in the ODIs, one significant change will be Dimuth Karunaratne returning as captain. 

Angelo Mathews, who took over the T20 captaincy after Dasun Shanaka was unable to travel with the rest of the squad due to a visa issue, will likely be among those who retain their places for the ODIs, with either Pathum Nissanka or Ashen Bandara making way for Karunaratne. 

After losing the opening T20I by four wickets, Sri Lanka bounced back to level the series with a comfortable 43-run win, but they let the series decider slip away in the penultimate over of  the match losing by three wickets

This will be Sri Lanka’s first ODI series since March last year, when they hosted the same opposition and swept them to a 3-0 series whitewash. 

And while they have now won just one out their last 11 T20Is, Sri Lanka have a much better 50-over record, having won six out their last eight ODIs. 

Sri Lanka will be without atleast five of the players who featured in that home series last year, with Avishka Fernando and Kusal Perera dropped due to poor fitness, Isuru Udana recovering from injury and Kusal Mendis omitted after two horror Test series against South Africa and England. 

Dhananjaya de Silva who was ruled out of the limited over series, still recovering from injury, has however been drafted into the Test squad, and left for West Indies last Sunday. 
Keiron Pollard will return to captain the Windies ODI team, though the hosts’ squad looks a lot different to that which was named for the T20I series, with the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Lendl Simmons not in the 50-over contingent.