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| Glenn Maxwell During Net Sessions |
ABOUT THE MATCH
With rain stealing most of the limelight in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2019, the weather becomes an integral part of this world cup. Next few days are going to be critical in terms of both - weather and the matches which are going to be played.We have Sri Lanka taking on the defending champions, Australia, on Saturday with the marquee contest between India and Pakistan to take place on the next day. The match between Australia and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am local time on 15th June at The Oval, London provided the weather doesn't play spoilsport.
Going by the current forecast, we should get a full game in on Saturday. When the two teams met in the warm-up fixture, the Aussies won the match quite comfortably. Stakes, however, are going to be higher this time and we expect a lot closer contest.
SL vs AUS Toss Prediction
Five of the last seven completed one-day internationals (including three out of the four in this World Cup) played at the Kennington Oval have been won by the side batting first. Since the pitch here is expected to get a tad slower later on in the day, the team that wins the toss would want to make first use of the ideal batting conditions.
MATCH PREVIEW
SRI LANKA
SL Team News
Nuwan Pradeep, who dislocated his finger in a training session, has returned to bowling in the nets. However, it remains to be seen whether the team will take the risk of playing him. In case Pradeep misses out again, Suranga Lakmal will lead the Sri Lankan pace attack while leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis will get an extended run. Lasith Malinga had returned home after the last match against Bangladesh due to a death in his family. The veteran pacer, however, is expected to rejoin the team ahead of this upcoming clash against Australia.Team Form
There's hardly anything which has gone right in Sri Lankan cricket in recent times. They've lost more often than not since the beginning of last year, and there doesn't seem to be light at the end of their tunnel. However, they'd be relatively happy by the position they're currently in at the ladder in the ongoing Cricket World Cup.
They are currently at the fifth spot with four of their matches already done and dusted and credits to two washouts, they're higher than they were expected to be. Their next four opponents, after Australia, are pretty hard and they need to win at least three of those to have any chances of qualification whatsoever.
So far in the tournament, Sri Lanka has been part of only one completed fixture wherein they did pretty well. Their top-three was brilliant with the bat, but they found themselves struggling at 180-odd total with seven wickets down. Their bowling, however, did exceedingly well in wrapping Afghanistan well before knocking their total down.
All in all, considering that Sri Lanka was far from favorites in their last two matches, the washouts might have done more good than harm to the Sri Lankans. While they now need to win most of their games, they are coming after having a good break which could be a blessing in such a big tournament.
Sri Lanka Squad
Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Milinda Siriwardana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Avishka Fernando
Playing 11: Coming soon
AUSTRALIA
AUS Team News
Australia made a couple of changes to their line-up in the previous game against Pakistan, one of which was a forced change with Shaun Marsh coming in to replace Marcus Stoinis who suffered a side strain in the game against India. Stoinis' availability for this match has not been confirmed yet which means Marsh is likely to get another opportunity. Adam Zampa was dropped last time and replaced with Kane Richardson, and it will be interesting to see whether the Aussies bring back the former or continue with the latter.Team Form
It won't be wrong to say that the Aussies have been on a roller-coaster ride considering the way they've performed in the tournament. Not only their results speak of that, but their performance in the last match was also one good example of that.
They bounced back to winning ways and therefore to contention with a crucial win over Pakistan. While it was a victory with a pretty decent margin on paper, the match was a lot closer than the scorecard suggests.
Batting first on a beauty of a wicket, Finch and Warner got them off to a flyer with Finch leading the way with his potent 82-run knock. Warner continued to build on the solid start and scored a match-winning hundred. Their innings, however, stumbled towards the end of their innings and they were eventually folded for 307.
Defending 307 on a surface which was excellent for batting would have needed a perfect plan, and the Kangaroos executed their plan to perfection. Starc and Cummins were terrific upfront and while a couple of their bowlers leaked runs in the middle overs with Hafeez taking Maxwell for cleaners.
All in all, apart from their game against India, Australia have looked like a team to beat in this tournament. They have done well in all three departments of the game and are looking hungry for more wins and consequently, yet another title win.
Australia Squad:
Aaron Finch(c), David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey(w), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon
Playing 11: Coming soon
DREAM11 PREDICTION
Check out the Dream11 lineup for the 19th World Cup match which is to be played between Australia and Sri Lanka
SL VS AUS DREAM11 LINEUP
WICKET-KEEPER:
Kusal Perera Alex Carey
BATSMEN:
Aaron Finch David Warner (C) Angelo Matthews Dimuth Karunaratne
ALL-ROUNDERS:
Glenn Maxwell Jeevan Mendis
BOWLERS:
Lasith Malinga Pat Cummins (VC) Mitchell Starc
MATCH PREDICTION
It turned out to be a mismatch when these two teams met each other in the warm-up fixture around three weeks ago. While Australia is coming off a massive win in their previous match, Sri Lanka has had sufficient rest due to the virtue to two abandoned matches. They are in dire need of a win and a couple of points which might motivate them to put in the extra effort. Having said that, Australia is a superior team on paper, and with both batting and bowling firing, they are firm favorites to register a win in this upcoming fixture.
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