Big picture: Stragglers in desperate search for points
Peeling off five wins in a row in order to reach 12 points – which would include beating the behemoth that is India on their own patch – looks a tall order, even before you account for the trough into which England’s ODI form has fallen. But if the miracle resurrection is going to start somewhere then it will have to be in Bengaluru against fellow stragglers Sri Lanka on Thursday.
England LLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
In the spotlight: Jos Buttler and Kusal Mendis
Team news: Carse, Mathews come in as injury replacements
England (probable): 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Harry Brook, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Mark Wood
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk) 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dushan Hemantha/Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka