Fans of subcontinental cricket have a big weekend, with all four major teams available to watch live online, with the First Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka ODI capping off the weekend on Saturday. The match is an important one, at least for Pakistan, who must win three of the five one day international matches at least, to keep their hopes of qualifying for the ICC 2017 Champions Trophy tournament alive.
Both India and Bangladesh will be in action on Friday in ODI matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively.
To find out how to watch Saturday’s Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka First ODI cricket match live online, see the information at the bottom of this article. The match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time on July 11 at the 17,000-capacity Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla, Sri Lanka. That’s 12:30 a.m. United States Eastern Time, 9:30 p.m. on July 10, Pacific Time.
Only eight teams make it into the prestigious, fortnight-long Champions Trophy competition, held every four years. The 2017 edition will be held in England, whose team, as hosts, qualify automatically, leaving only seven slots for other nations.
Pakistan, at 87 points, are currently ranked ninth and are out of the running. But with at least a 3-2 win in the series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan will move a fraction of a point ahead of West Indies into the eighth position. A 5-0 whitewash by Pakistan — who just finished taking a 2-1 Test Series win over their tour hosts — boosts Pakistan to 94 points.
Sri Lanka may be at a slight disadvantage, playing their first ODI of the post-Kumar Sangakkara era. The legendary “Sanga” bowed out of ODI cricket after Sri Lanka were bounced from the World Cup in March at the quarterfinal stage by South Africa, as did another Sri Lanka batting great, Mahela Jayawardene.
Sri Lanka have named uncapped Milinda Siriwardana and Sachith Pathirana to replace the two retired legends.
The best way to watch the Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka cricket First ODI match live online in the United States is through Willow TV, which is available via this YouTube link with a monthly subscription fee, as well as on Willow TV’s own site, accessible by clicking here.
Some promotional offers make it possible to watch Willow TV legally online free for a limited period of time, such as the offer at this link — or the one-month free trial of Sling TV’s International Sports Package, which includes the all-cricket channel. Information on that deal can be found at this link.
Viewers with access to Pakistan internet sites can watch the Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka match live online via Geo Super TV by clicking here , while CricHD will stream the match at this site .
[Image: Francois Nel/Getty Images]
