Jayawardene, pressed forward his claims for a place in the squad ahead of the out-of-form Hashan Tillekeratne by scoring a splendid 87 not out off 95 balls for the Board President's XI in their four-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at the Moratuwa Stadium on Tuesday.
However, all-rounder Upul Chandana is likely to get the nod ahead of him, as Sri Lanka will prefer his leg-spin to support the off-spin of Muthiah Muralitharan and the off-cutters of Kumara Dharmasena.
Dharmasena, who missed the Second Test at the SSC through a finger injury, played for his club Bloomfield in a Sara trophy match two days later, thus rousing suspicion to the validity of his wound.
Dharmasena's bowling action is also under scrutiny with the International Cricket Council (ICC) wanting further evidence by way of video tapes to pass judgment on him.
Although Sajeeva de Silva, another player returning from a hand injury is also named in the squad, it is likely that Ravindra Pushpakumara will be given another chance to prove his capabilities as a one-day bowler.
Chaminda Vaas has been declared fit after his recent sickness, which had been afflicting him since the Kandy Test.
Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga who put up a brave effort in the Second Test to guide his tea to victory despite a back strain, said that he was almost 90 percent fit to play.
Ranatunga went through the entire fielding session yesterday without signs of any discomfort, which is good news for the world champions who will be looking to make a clean sweep of the one-day series as well.
Since winning the World Cup two years ago, Sri Lanka's stocks as a one-day side has soared to Himalayan heights.
Under Ranatunga's leadership, they have won 28 of their last 44 one-day internationals, losing 12, with one tie and three no-results.
Overall, Ranatunga's captaincy record stands at 73 wins, 70 losses eight no-results and one tie from 152 matches.
The loss at Moratuwa would not have helped Zimbabwe in their preparations for the one-day series against the world champions.
They are yet without a single win on the tour, and the warm-up on Tuesday would have been the ideal platform to reverse their fortunes, but for Jayawardene, who played a superb innings to take the game away from them.
The only comfort they can draw from the contests between the two countries is that on the last occasion they met - at Sharjah, in April 1997, Zimbabwe emerged victorious by 50 runs. But in the head-to-head clashes, Zimbabwe can boast of only two wins from 10 matches, while Sri Lanka have won eight.
The teams: SRI LANKA (from); Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Roshan Mahanama, Aravinda de Silva, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumara Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Muthiah Muralitharan, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Upul Chandana, Mahela Jayawardena, Sajeeva de Silva, Ruwan Kalpage.
ZIMBABWE (from): Alistair Campbell (captain), Grant Flower, Andy Flower, Murray Goodwin, Guy Whittall, Craig Wishart, John Rennie, Andy Whittall, Heath Streak, Paul Strang, Grant Rennie, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Bryan Strang, Everton Matabadanza, Henry Olonga, Gavin Rennie.
UMPIRES: Peter Manual and D. N. Pathirana.