After a thoroughly dominant Test series, England will look to carry that momentum into the one-day international rubber against Sri Lanka, starting with the first ODI at Trent Bridge on Tuesday. England are a completely different limited-overs team now, and with Sri Lanka still very much a work in progress, the hosts will start this one-day international series as the favourites.
Eoin Morgan will take over the England captaincy duties from Alastair Cook now that the contest has moved onto coloured clothing, and one of the big decisions the left-hander has to make is who will take the place of the injured Ben Stokes in the side.
Morgan has to decide if an extra batsman is required, or if he can go with one more bowler, putting the England captain and coach Trevor Bayliss in a conundrum that would not have existed had Stokes been fit.
With Jonny Bairstow, one of the men of the series in the Test matches, back in the England limited-overs squad, there will be the temptation to include him in the playing XI, but then that might mean dropping one of the two spinners – Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid – or deciding against bringing in an extra fast bowler, especially when the options are the likes of Liam Plunkett, Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes.
Whatever team England choose, though, they will know the expectation will be a win over Sri Lanka, especially considering their recent limited-overs form, which includes an appearance in the final of the World T20 in India.
"For us to go there (to India) and put in some outstanding performances, particularly in the group stages, I thought was brilliant," Morgan, who is under pressure to get runs, was quoted as saying by ECB's official website. "We've had a little bit of success which has been really good for the side, especially the younger guys and their confidence.
"It's a big summer because there's probably a bit more expectation on us and it's important to relish that expectation. With the Champions Trophy in a year and the World Cup two years after that, as the home side we're looking to put in performances so that other sides don't look on us as outsiders for those tournaments."
Sri Lanka remain a work in progress, but the team from the Island nation will take confidence from their batting performances in the two ODI matches against Ireland last week. In the first match, Sri Lanka posted 303, thanks to a hundred from Dinesh Chandimal, before bowling the Irish out for 216, courtesy a five-wicket haul from Dasun Shanaka.
The batting in the second ODI was a lot more dominant, as Sri Lanka went on to post 377, with Kusal Perera and Seekkuge Prasanna impressing.
If Sri Lanka can continue that form with the bat against more difficult bowling opposition in England, then this will be a really good, competitive series.
Where to Watch Live
England vs Sri Lanka is scheduled for a 2 p.m. local time (6.30 p.m. IST, 9 a.m. ET) start. Below are the live streaming and TV options.
India and South Asia: TV: Star Sports 1/HD1. Live Streaming: Starsports.com and Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
USA: TV: ESPN 3. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 5. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport. Live Streaming: Sky Sport NZ.
South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa: TV: SuperSport 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
