West Indies won the toss and opted to bat first at a sunny Khettarama. The track used for this match was the same as the one used in the first ODI, and was expected to get slower and more susceptible to turn as the match wore on.
The visitors made three changes to their XI. Allrounders Jason Holder and Andre Russell, and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin were all unavailable. Batsman and part-time offspinner Jason Mohammed and Jermaine Blackwood were handed an opportunity. Also in the XI was medium pace bowler Ravi Rampaul, picked for the first time since October 2014.
Holder was suspended for this game for maintaining a slow over-rate on Sunday,Russell was ruled out by an abdominal strain he sustained in the previous match, and Denesh Ramdin has picked up a stomach illness. Marlon Samuels led the team for the first time in his absence, while Andre Fletcher was likely to take the gloves.
Sri Lanka swapped Dinesh Chandimal for Danushka Gunathilaka in the middle order. Chandimal returned after serving a suspension for an altercation with Ishant Sharma in August.
Colombo had been having daily evening rains over the past week, and there was a chance bad weather could also interrupt this match.
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Dinesh Chandimal , 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Shehan Jaysuriya, 8 Sachithra Senanayake, 9, Ajantha Mendis 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Suranga Lakmal
West Indies: 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels (capt.), 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Jason Mohammed 7 Jermaine Blackwood, 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Ravi Rampaul
