England take on Sri Lanka in the third Test at Colombo with series victory already assured but Richard Mann thinks one of the Sri Lankan bowlers is well worth a wager.
Recommended bets: Sri Lanka v England (Third Test)
2pts Dilruwan Perera top first innings Sri Lanka bowler at 23/10
A 57-run victory in the second Test in Kandy means England have won their first series on the subcontinent since winning in India back in 2012 and they head to Colombo bidding to complete a clean sweep.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for an England side that have struggled away from home since that famous series win - departures of the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell leaving the batting short of genuine world-class players - and they have tasted defeat back in India, as well as in Dubai, Australia and New Zealand in the subsequent years.
Nevertheless, coach Trevor Bayliss has stuck to his principles and behind his players and under the growing captaincy of Joe Root, England's attack-minded approach has slowly began to reap rewards with last summer's defeat of a highly-skilled Indian outfit a clear sign of a bright future.
Root's side will be full of confidence heading to Colombo for the series finale and with Jonny Bairstow returning in the place of the injured Sam Curran, the batting has a particularly deep look to it with openers Keaton Jennings and Rory Burns both impressing on the tour so far.
Jack Leach, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have formed a potent spin attack and Root's brilliant second-innings hundred in the second Test suggests that the final pieces of the jigsaw might just be coming to together.
Of course, winning both tosses and batting first in the opening two matches of this series has handed England a massive advantage, as was the case when Root called correctly on every occasion in England's five-match series win over India earlier in the year.
Batting first and dictating the terms of the game clearly suits England but when Root's luck runs out, his side will have to show a different side to their game and old issues could easily resurface.
Despite the continued absence of Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal, I'm happy to swerve England at 1/1, for all their dominance so far, in the fear batting last could catch out the tourists like it has Sri Lanka and Pakistan in recent weeks.
A better bet comes in the shape of Dilruwan Perera at 23/10 in the top first innings Sri Lanka bowler.
The off-spinner was a 13/5 winner for this column in the same market in Kandy and with fellow twirler Akila Dananjaya absent for this Test due to tests on his suspect bowling action, Perera looks an even better bet this time around.
Moeen Ali and Jack Leach look set to fight it out for England honours in the same market but that one could be too close to call, as could the top Sri Lanka batsman market with Angelo Matthew and Dimuth Karunaratne looking head and shoulders above their teammates.
As such, Perera is the only bet for me.
Posted at 1455 GMT on 21/11/18.
