England v Sri Lanka third Test preview

England’s final Test match of the summer sees them conclude their three-game series against Sri Lanka at the Oval on Friday, with left-arm pace bowler Josh Hull set to make his international debut.

The hosts will be looking to make it six wins from six Test matches, after whitewashing the West Indies in July and amassing a 2-0 series lead against the Sri Lankans, though their biggest adversary between now and Tuesday may be the weather, with rain and fog forecast in south London for the next few days.

We preview the action below.

England v Sri Lanka – Thursday 11:00

Sri Lanka will be rueing several missed opportunities in this Test series to seize the initiative against their host and play their way into winning positions. Their curious decision to win the toss and bowl first at Lord’s last week seemed vindicated when they had England 216/6 on the opening day, only for the imperious Joe Root to take the game away from them with two sublime centuries.

Their bowling at times at Lord’s was dreadful, particularly around the wicket to right-handers, and were ultimately aided by England eventually throwing their wickets away towards the end of their innings. That being said, some of Sri Lanka’s catching has been very impressive.

The tourists begin at 13/2 to secure a consolation win at the Oval this weekend – even longer odds than the draw at 11/2, with some autumn-like conditions expected in south London. England are 1/4 to wrap up another 3-0 series victory after their commanding 190-run win last week.

Root will deservedly receive a lot of credit, but it’s been Gus Atkinson’s arrival to Test cricket that has arguably been the story of the summer so far. The Surrey man’s 118 at number eight – as well as yet another five-wicket haul in the second innings – gave Root someone to bat alongside deep into the England innings, and their first innings total of 427 was unlikely to be troubled by a fragile Sri Lankan batting card.

Looking ahead to Thursday’s action, Atkinson is joined at the summit of the top England bowler market by the more experienced Chris Woakes, whose phenomenal home average in Tests was further improved with four wickets across the Lord’s fixture. Both right-armers are 21/10 to pick up the most Sri Lankan scalps at the Oval, with Atkinson the joint-7/1 favourite alongside the aforementioned Root to pick up the Player of the Match award.

One to watch out for this weekend will certainly be Josh Hull. The Leicestershire left-armer only has 16 first class wickets to his name with an eye-watering average of 62.75 but will line up for England in south London and is 27/10 for the most wickets on debut. Hull is the only change from England’s side last week, replacing Matty Potts.

From a batting perspective, stand-in captain Ollie Pope will be wanting to improve on a dire set of scores since replacing Ben Stokes as temporary England skipper and is 4/1 to score the most runs for his team in the first innings. The Surrey man’s average now sits at 34 on the dot but it’s his frequency to be dismissed within the first 20 balls of his innings – and the lack of technique that follows – which is providing a big concern.

Pope’s over/under run spread sits at 32.5 (5/6) – for the sake of comparison, Joe Root’s is 40.5. This may provide some value given the Oval is both Pope’s home ground and a famously good batting deck, so you’d do worse than selecting that as part of a larger bet builder if you’re feeling optimistic about his chances of returning to form.

Other notable selections include the in-form Harry Brook and Ben Duckett to score half centuries – boosted from 4/1 to 5/1 – while the unflappable Root to top the run charts for the hosts alongside an England victory has likewise been boosted from 7/2 to 9/2.