Sri Lanka’s tour of West Indies has reached its business end now with a two-match Test series the only event left in what has been an underwhelming outing by the visitors.
Sri Lanka have managed just one win in two T20is and three ODIs on this tour with the upcoming Test series their only chance to salvage something.
And while the visitors will have reasons to be optimistic about, given their overall record against West Indies in the longest format, Lankans’ away record with the red ball has also been concerning.
| Head-to-Head (Overall) | ||
| West Indies | Metrics | Sri Lanka |
| 20 | Matches | 20 |
| 4 | Wins | 9 |
| 7 | Draws | 7 |
| 20% | Win Percentage | 45% |
| Head-to-Head (West Indies) |
||
| West Indies | Metrics | Sri Lanka |
| 9 | Matches | 9 |
| 4 | Wins | 2 |
| 3 | Draws | 3 |
| 44.4% | Win Percentage | 22.2% |
Apart from the brilliant form that West Indies are enjoying, the Men in Maroon have also been a strong side to deal with in the longest format in their backyard. West Indies have faced India, England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in their last five Test series at home, and have emerged victorious on three occasions.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have managed just two wins in the same number of series. They have hosted South Africa, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Australia at home and their only wins have against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Both the Test matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, a venue that has seen some big as well as small innings in the last five innings.
| Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (last 5 innings) | |||
| Score | Team | Opposition | Date |
| 297 | India | West Indies | August 22, 2019 |
| 187 | England | West Indies | January 31, 2019 |
| 43 | Bangladesh | West Indies | July 4, 2018 |
| 566/8 | India | West Indies | July 21, 2016 |
| 399 | England | West Indies | April 13, 2015 |
Hence, both West Indies and Sri Lanka would be looking to get runs on the board given the strong batting order both have. However, Sri Lanka will have the upper hand here given their superior batting average in the last five innings of 326.4 as opposed to West Indies' 217.6.
Winning the toss to opt and bat first will be a huge factor in the Test series, and it gets really tricky here. Both West Indies and Sri Lanka have won four out of their last five coin Tosses.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Munir Uz Zaman
