A 3-0 thumping in the T20I leg of the tour meant Sri Lanka's preparations were already far from ideal before Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka breached the squad's bio-secure bubble on Sunday and were send home immediately.
It means Perera is now likely to open the batting in Gunathilaka's absence and take the wicketkeeping gloves with Dickwella unavailable.
Avishka Fernando is out with a quadriceps injury and there could be a debut in the middle order for Charith Asalanka.
The hosts will begin as strong favourites and might even have their eye on a quick victory before the prospect of crowds drifting away to watch the England v Germany last-16 encounter at Euro 2020, which kicks off at 17:00 local time.
England's previous 50-over match against Sri Lanka on home soil ended in a surprise defeat at Headingley during the group stage of their ultimately triumphant 2019 World Cup campaign.
That meant what was in effect a quarter-final at Chester-Le-Street, where a home side flushed with local talent were roared to victory over New Zealand.
Ben Stokes is still working his way back to full fitness following a broken finger and Liam Plunkett has been cast aside at international level, but Durham's own Mark Wood remains a figurehead of England's white-ball attack and in fine form.
The quality of an England seam department boasting Wood's fellow World Cup hero Chris Woakes looks likely to be far too much for Sri Lanka, although Jason Roy (hamstring) being a doubt for an England batting order lacking Jos Buttler (calf) may give them the tiniest morsels of encouragement ahead of what might become an ordeal.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
England – Dawid Malan
Malan finished the T20I series as an opener after Buttler was laid low and the world's number one batsman in the shortest international format is likely to get his chance to impress alongside Jonny Bairstow as Roy recuperates. In three previous ODI innings, he has 90 runs and a top score of 50. If Malan impresses over longer periods in the middle a clamour for him to be restored to England's faltering Test line-up might in turn increase.
Sri Lanka – Dushmantha Chameera
Malan and Bairstow could face a stern examination from pace bowler Chameera, whose 4-17 in the final T20I at the Ageas Bowl followed an ODI career-best of 5-16 against Bangladesh in Dhaka last month. In 28 50-over internationals, the 29-year-old has 30 wickets at 33.36 and his slingy, slippery action could be particularly problematic during this gloomy period of the English summer.
KEY OPTA FACTS
- England have lost five of their past seven ODIs (W2), including a three-wicket defeat in their most recent match at home against Australia last September.
- Sri Lanka have just one win from their previous six ODI matches (L5), however, that win was their most recent game against Bangladesh.
- Joe Root needs 38 runs to reach 6,000 in ODI cricket. He is the second highest run scorer for England in the format after captain Eoin Morgan (6,876).
- Woakes needs one wicket to reach 150 in ODIs. He would be the sixth man to achieve the feat for England and the fourth fastest (105 matches) to do so if he manages it at Chester-Le-Street after Stuart Broad (95), Darren Gough (97) and Adil Rashid (102).
- Perera needs 11 runs to reach 3,000 in ODIs. He would be the joint-third fastest to the milestone out of 17 overall if he does so in his 100th innings after Upul Tharanga (93), Marvan Atapattu (94) and alongside Lahiru Thirimanne (100).
After being sent to bat, MI Emirates led by top scores of 42 by Andre Fletcher and Kusal Perera respectively, and 37 from Pooran, posted 180-7 from their allotment, before Hosein bowled with skill and accuracy to grab 4-23 in restricting the Warriors to a paltry 74.
Scores: MI Emirates 180-7 (20 overs); Sharjah Warriors 74 all out (12.1 overs)
Hosein first accounted for fellow West Indian Johnson Charles (one), who for the first time since the start of the tournament, failed to get in on the runs. The Trinidad and Tobago left-arm spinner then snared another three wickets -Joe Denly (six), Basil Hameed (zero) and Daniel Sams (zero) -in the eighth over.
In fact, Hosein thought he had a fourth in the over and, by extension, the first hat-trick in ILT20 history when he had Englishman Chris Woakes adjudged leg-before-wicket. However, the decision was later overturned on review, as the ball pitched outside the leg stump.
New Zealander Martin Guptill (17), Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper/batsman Niroshan Dickwella (22) and England's Lewis Gregory (10), offered minimal resistance in the Warriors dismal innings.
Earlier, 'Spiceman' Fletcher and Sri Lankan Perera put together a 92 second-wicket stand that was the foundation of the MI Emirates innings. Fletcher slammed four fours and two sixes in his 31-ball 42, while Perera had three fours and three sixes in his 25-ball 42.
Pooran chipped in with a 37 off 29 balls, which includes a solitary four and two sixes, with Australian Tim David being the next best scorer with a 16-ball 20.
Pakistani Muhammad Jawadullah was the pick of the Warriors bowling with 3-31 from his over overs.
With the win, MI Emirates remain atop the standing on six points, the Warriors are fifth on two points.
In a game that Sri Lanka started brightly, India ultimately proved too strong as they continued their impressive record over their opponents in this format.
India's openers endured a difficult start to the encounter, as Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) Sanju Samson (0) and Rinku Singh (1) all fell inside the first four overs.
Shubman Gill would top score for the Men in Blue with 39 runs from 37 deliveries as Maheesh Theekshana starred with the ball in hand, taking 3-28 as Sri Lanka restricted their opponents to 137-9.
Kusal Mendis (43) and Kusal Perera (46) would give Sri Lanka an excellent start to their chase, losing just two wickets in the first 16 overs of the contest.
But with time running out, India's bowlers stepped up the pressure and claimed six wickets from the final four overs. Needing just six runs from the final over, Yadav's bowling display forced a super over.
Washington Sundar was given the responsibility to deliver, and he claimed two wickets in three balls with Sri Lanka finished the super over having scored just two.
Yadav would waste no time in sealing the win, smashing a four from the opening ball to secure a 3-0 series win.
Data Debrief: India continue Sri Lanka dominance
India have now won five of their last six men’s T20Is against Sri Lanka (L1), including the last four on the bounce.
The Men in Blue have won all of their four men’s T20Is against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka have now lost their last three men's T20Is at Pallekele, the second time they have done so in their history (three loses from September 2016 to September 2019).
The West Indies beat back the challenge of the hosts 2-0, completing the route with a seven-wicket win in Pallekele on Friday.
Sent into bat, Sri Lanka recovered from 48-4 in the 12th over to score 155-6 thanks to Dasun Shanaka’s 31 not out and Thisara Perera’s unbeaten 21 but that wasn’t enough.
In reply, the West Indies, despite the early loss of Lendl Simmons, 9, didn’t have too much trouble chasing the target with a long, powerful batting line-up, where Brandon King scored 43, Shimron Hetmyer was unbeaten on 43 and Andre Russell scored a remarkable 40 not out, inclusive of six sixes.
“Pretty satisfied to leave Sri Lankan shores with a victory, we hadn't won a T20I series in a while,” said Pollard.
The skipper lauded the team for the effort they put into the two games, saying he liked the fact that the intensity remained high over the course of the two games. The West Indies won the first encounter on Wednesdat by 25 runs.
“The guys executed nicely, the foundation was laid by Brandon King, the young man is finding his feet in international cricket, Russell finished it off and the bowlers were brilliant,” said Pollard.
On Wednesday, the West Indies had a scare after Kusal Perera threatened to take the game away from them. Pollard had said then, that he would reveal his plans for there not to be a repeat.
“He is always looking for the length ball, every time we bowl fuller he tends to miss, our analyst has done a brilliant job, and as I said, it was a total team effort,” he said.
The bowling effort, Pollard said, was better than in the last game and better than it has been in a while.
“We were trying to make them hit to one side of the park only,” he said, pointing out that his team had previously been leaking runs on both sides of the wicket, making it difficult to contain scoring.
Now, Pollard said, it was just for the team to create those performances consistently.
The West Indies won the game by 25 runs after scoring an imposing 196-4 on the back of Lendl Simmons’ unbeaten 67 and 30s from Brandon King (33), Russell (35) and Pollard (34).
It almost wasn’t enough, as Kusal counter-attacked brilliantly, slamming 66 from 38 deliveries, despite Oshane Thomas’ soul-crushing 5-28.
Wanindu Hasaranga was also dangerous against the West Indies, scoring 44 from 34 deliveries, to keep the run chase alive after helping his recover from 56-5 in the sixth over.
While Pollard understands that Kusal was dangerous and could be so again, he was not yet willing to divulge what his bowlers needed to do hold on to a more powerful position.
“I'll tell you our plan to Kusal Perera after the next game, he's obviously their mainstay,” he said.
Rather, Pollard wanted to focus on the effort the team put into creating a fairly comfortable victory in the end.
Thomas came in for some praise, with Pollard speaking about the work he had put in recently after questions arose about his fitness.
“Total team effort, Oshane Thomas brilliant, he has been doing hard work back home and it's showing,” said Pollard.
Pollard also thought highly of Rovman Powell’s performance with the ball.
Powell removed Hasaranga in the 16th over, trapping him leg before and changing the course of the game, as well as Thisara Perera, who was also scoring quickly when he had him caught by Sheldon Cottrell.
“We had an unsung hero in Rovman Powell with the ball late in the innings,” said Pollard, recognizing that the efforts of Thomas and Simmons may have overshadowed the allrounder’s contribution.
England's Test skipper did not feature in the recent Twenty20 series between the nations but returned to international duty with an unbeaten 79, in the process putting Sri Lanka's below-par total of 185 into context.
Moeen Ali weighed in with 28 after coming in at 83-4, the home team having suffered a middle-order wobble after opener Jonny Bairstow (43 off 21 deliveries) had given them a flying start.
The impressive Dushmantha Chameera struck twice but Sri Lanka's slim hopes were hit by two costly drops, all-rounder Ali put down from his first ball by wicketkeeper Kusal Perera before Root was missed in the deep when on 36. England eventually eased over the line with 91 balls to spare.
Captain Perera had top-scored with 73 but the tourists never appeared to have enough on the scoreboard in the first of three ODI games between the teams.
Chris Woakes claimed two early wickets on his way to outstanding figures of 4-18, Sri Lanka – left with a depleted squad after three players were sent home for breaching COVID-19 protocols – quickly slipping to 46-3.
They recovered thanks to a stand worth 99 as the impressive Wanindu Hasaranga contributed 54 in combination with his skipper, only to then lose their last six wickets for just 40 runs.
Sri Lanka's cause was not helped by two run outs to wrap up the innings midway through the 43rd over, David Willey having backed up opening partner Woakes by taking 3-44.
England held together by Root
Root is the second English batsman to register 6,000 runs in ODI cricket, with only Eoin Morgan (6,882) managing more. The right-hander reached the number in his 141st inning in the format, the same number as the legendary Viv Richards needed. Indeed, only Hashim Amla (123), Virat Kohli (136) and Kane Williamson (139) have done it faster.
Woakes keeps Sri Lanka in check
Perera became the 17th Sri Lankan batsman to register 3,000 one-day runs, though only Hasaranga offered any real support. Seam bowler Woakes set the tone from the outset for England as he ended up bowling five maidens in an outstanding 10-over stint.
