Can Sri Lanka halt Aussie March? (Preview)

Two matches into the five match ODI series, the hosts Sri Lanka have looked a shadow of their performances in the two match twenty-20 series that preceded it. Sri Lanka had a measure of Aussies in the twenty-20 encounters but haven’t been emulate the form in the fifty over cricket.

The tourists have won both the matches hands down following, more or less, a similar pattern. Sri Lankan skipper T Dilshan has opted to field on both the occasions. He and his charges have failed to deliver with the bat against impressive Aussie pace attack, and, with the result, below par totals have been scored. Australians haven’t had much of a struggle to achieve those targets and have looked a confident unit going 2-0 up in the series.

In both the losses, Sri Lanka have had batting failures. The top order hasn’t contributed much and middle order batsmen have thrown it away thanks to their reckless stroke-making. Take nothing away from Australian fast bowlers though. It was Mitchell Johnson’s searing pace and hostility that blew the hosts away in the first ODI and all-round show of the bowlers made sure Sri Lanka didn’t score many. Even big guns like Mahela Jayawerdena and Kumar Sangakkara have combusted to poor shots and handed advantage to Australia after doing the hardwork early in their innings.

Two flop batting shows on a trot have meant very low scores on the board. That has negated threat of strong Sri Lankan spin attack. Sans scoreboard pressure, Sri Lankan to order have romped home against spinners and nullified their role on slow and turning wickets.

 The refreshing aspect of Australian batting efforts has been former skipper Ricky Ponting’s sublime touch. The champion batsman, without captaincy burden, looks fresh and all set to scale more triumphs. His timing, placement, footwork and, infact, whole set up while batting has very fluent as has been rewarded with back to back match winning fifties. Shane Watson has had a two quickfire knocks at the top but his opening partner Brad Haddin has failed big time. He needs to buck up and add more muscle to the already strong batting lineup. Not only has his batting been impressive, Michael Clarke has marshaled his troops admirably. He seems to be getting all the support from his charges and able to get best out of them.

Bowling department looks a good blend. Brett Lee brings in world of experience, Johnson pace and hostility, Doug Bollinger seam and swing bowling with accuracy and Xavier Doherty tight ten over of spin bowling. As of now, Clarke’s side looks well oiled and prepared to seal the series on Tuesday only.

Sri Lanka though would feel that two bad games don’t make them a bad team. If batsmen hit form and post a substantial score on the board, the bowling unit can make things difficult for Aussie batsmen. Dilshan needs to lead from the front and hope others follow him to open stage a comeback in the series. The kind of cricket Aussies are playing a comeback in the series looks a different proposition though. But, as we have seen in the past, things can change so quickly in one-day cricket. Dilshan and his men would derive hope from that trend.

Sri Lanka Squad: T  Dilshan (C), Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Jeevan Mendis, Chamara Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekara, Isuru Udana, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Malinga Bandara, Sachithra Senanayake.

Australia Squad: Australia: Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (C), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Xavier Doherty, James Pattinson, Doug Bollinger.