England v Sri Lanka second Test: Prediction, Tips and Odds

After a five-wicket win at Old Trafford, England turn their attention to the second Test of their series with Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday, and the Racing Post's Liam Flin has picked out his three best bets for this contest at Lord's.

England came out on top in the opener but it was not always straightforward against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, where the hosts slipped to 70-3 in their chase of 205 to win the game, having also been reduced to 67-3 and 187-5 in their first innings of 358.

Steady performances from Joe Root and Jamie Smith got them over the line in the end but England will once again be without captain Ben Stokes and should be wary of the visiting Lankans.

England v Sri Lanka second Test betting tips and predictions

Jamie Smith top first-innings batter - 17/2

The first Test was all about Root's commanding knock of 62 not out, which steered England to victory from a precarious position.

But the former England captain was ably assisted at the crease by number-seven batter Jamie Smith, who went on to be named player of the match.

Smith struck 39 in his second innings to help England to victory but was also in fine shape when topping the first-innings runscorers with a superb 111, which allowed the home team to reach 358 all out and establish a crucial first-innings lead of 122.

It has not taken long for the Surrey talent to make his mark in this format with Smith having averaged 59.50 across his four Test matches for England.

At Lord's just last month Smith scored 70 against the West Indies and he represents value at 17/2 to be the match's top first-innings runscorer.

Dan Lawrence to score under 66.5 player performance points - 5/6

While Root and Smith excelled, it was not a particularly memorable first Test for England opener Dan Lawrence.

Lawrence was not humiliated at Old Trafford but his scores of 30 and 34 were pretty underwhelming and he is still finding his feet back in England's Test side.

With that in mind, he is worth backing to fall short of his player performance line of 66.5 points.

In this market, players are awarded one point per run, 20 per wicket taken, 10 per catch and 25 per stumping.

Lawrence has not been putting on big totals at the crease, while he is unlikely to bowl much if at all and will not be behind the stumps.

Prabath Jayasuriya to take over 3.5 wickets - 10/11

One of Sri Lanka's key players in the first Test at Old Trafford was Prabath Jayasuriya and the left-arm spinner could again be important at Lord's.

When England started losing wickets quickly, it was Jayasuriya who was applying the pressure with the ball.

He claimed the notable scalps of Ollie Pope (six) and Harry Brook (32) in Manchester and as a result he finished with five wickets across the two innings.

The 32-year-old has decent Test experience under his belt for the Lankans, having also picked up eight wickets against Afghanistan and four against Bangladesh in Test matches earlier in 2024.

While he could be a prime contender to be top wicket-taker for Sri Lanka, he looks a fine bet at 10/11 to take over 3.5 wickets for his team.

Read more cricket betting tips and predictions on site

England v Sri Lanka odds

England - 1/4
Draw - 10/1
Sri Lanka - 5/1

View the full market and more odds for England v Sri Lanka second Test on site.

Read England v Sri Lanka how to watch, TV channel, head-to-head stats, team news and more on site.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.