AUS vs SL: After suffering a huge defeat against South Africa & India, Australia is all set to face Sri Lanka at the same venue. The 14th match of the ODI World Cup 2203 will be played at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on 16th October from 2 pm. Both teams have failed to create an impact in the tournament & are marching into the clash on the back of two consecutive losses. The last time both teams faced each other was back in June at Colombo where Australia won the game by 4 wickets. However, it was Sri Lanka who emerged victorious by winning the series by 2-3. In the ODI World Cups, Australia has an edge with 8 wins over 11 games over Sri Lanka.
AUS vs SL: TEAMS PREVIEW
Australia Preview
It’s the first time since 1992, that Australia has lost their first two matches of the World Cup which has put their plans in jeopardy. Their batting order has been poor in both fixtures as a result they are yet to surpass the 200-run mark. David Warner will open the innings with Mitchell Marsh. Both of them have poor records against Sri Lanka & they will aim to change this history in today’s fixture. As compared to the duo, Smith has a good record against Sri Lanka as in 10 innings Smith has registered 4 fifties against Lanka.
In the batting order, Labushcagne is leading the run charts with his exemplary batting skills. He has scored 46 runs in the last fixture & will be a batter to watch out in this fixture. Australia will aim to address their middle order woes as the middle order batters could score just 36 runs at the cost of 6 wickets. Though Maxwell is yet to make a mark with the bat he is the only batter to have an average of more than 40 with more than 5 games against the Lankans.
In the bowling order, Australia is yet to perform under the captaincy of Cummins. Though Hazlewood is the leading wicket-taker for Australia, Starc will be the bowler to look out for. Starc has 27 wickets against Sri Lanka in 14 matches at an average of 18.88. Leg spinner Adam Zampa has 1 wicket in the first two games but his stats are better against Sri Lanka. With 10 wickets in five matches, he can provide Australia with the much-needed spin boost.
Key Players: Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins
Australia Predicted Playing XI:
David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Sri Lanka Preview
Sri Lanka is marching into this clash on the back of a defeat at the hands of Pakistan. Initially, Sri Lanka batters did a fabulous job by registering 300-plus runs on both. But in the second innings, their bowlers failed to capitalize on their batting performance. As a result, Pakistan went on to chase the huge target of 344 runs to register a gleaming win against the Lankans.
In the batting order, Nissanka will open the innings with Kusal Perera. Nissanka scored a fifty in the first game & might go ahead with Dimuth Karunaratne as an opener. This is because Perera failed to provide ideal starts to the team. All eyes will be on Kusal Mendis who is currently at his peak. Mendis has a century & a half-century in the last two fixtures. He has scored 198 runs at a strike rate of 166 & has been averaging above 60 in the last two games. And truly Mendis will be the player to watch out for against Australia. Sadeera Samarawickrama will partner up with Mendis in the middle order.
Samarawickrama has scored a century against Pakistan & will aim to do the same against Australia as well. Sri Lanka will aim to continue their good run against the Aussies as well. However, their bowling attack is not performing as per expectation. In two matches they have managed to scalp 9 wickets & conceded 773 runs. Dilshan Madhushanka is Lanka’s leading wicket-taker with 4 wickets. The two key bowlers Maheesha Pathirana and Dunith Welalage have conceded 185 & 147 runs each in these two games.
Key Players: Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilshan Madhushanka
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI:
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka
AUS vs SL: Pitch & Weather Conditions
The weather will be sunny with the temperature ranging between 22 & 33. The pitch at Ekana Stadium Lucknow is no different from other Indian pitches. They seem to be batter-friendly providing potential assistance for spinners as the match progresses.
Toss to Bowl first:
In the 10 ODIs played here, the results have favored the teams chasing the targets. The teams batting second have won matches seven times. The average score here is 228 & thus the team winning the toss should bowl first.
The team winning the toss should opt to bowl first.
AUS vs SL: Winning prediction
Both the teams who have lost their first two matches are in search of their first victory. The stats show that the two teams are on the same page when it comes to performing on this pitch. While Australia is yet to score 200 runs in the tournament. Sri Lanka have returned with 300-plus runs in both the matches. So the results will be dependent not on batting performance but on the fact that who will fetch quick wickets while conceding fewer runs.
Australian bowling order has a good record against Sri Lanka as Cummins, Starc, and Zampa have averaged less than 20 against Sri Lanka. Though Sri Lanka has managed to win 3 matches in the last 5 matches against Australia it’s Australia who has a good record against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup history.
We Predict Australia to win this fixture.
Also read, Dasun Shanaka ruled out of World Cup with thigh injury
