AUS vs SL, Cricket World Cup 2023: Pressure Mounts as Australia, Sri Lanka Seek to Get off the Mark – News18

Push to the walls, Australia more often than not bring out their best and there cannot be any better time to do it than on Monday when they take on Sri Lanka in their third ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 fixture at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Never have Australia lost four World Cup matches in a row, and their start to his edition’s campaign has been the worst since 1999. And even though Pat Cummins may have sounded resolute on his team’s fortunes turning, he would know that taking Sri Lanka lightly is not an option at all.

Australian batters have failed to post a score of over 200 in both of their previous matches – a telling stat on their batting line-up. With David Warner and Mitchell Marsh underperforming and Steve Smith not able to get things moving, their line-up especially against spinners will be a big cause of concern.

ALSO READ| Pat Cummins Stays Resolute in Australia’s Quest for Turnaround in the World Cup

On what is expected to be another hot day in Lucknow, Australia does have the advantage of knowing the conditions better than their opponents, but as stand-in skipper Kusal Mendis as at the pre-match press conference on Sunday, the conditions have been more similar to what they enjoy back home and will be an advantage for the Lankans. Add to that guile of Maheesh Theekshana, the discipline of Dhananjaya De Silva and Dunith Wellalage, this is going to be another tricky proposition for Australia to overcome.

Sri Lanka, they do have a problem of plenty, primarily with the bowling unit that has leaked runs over 700 runs in the two games. While batters, led by Mendis admirably, have taken on the game in its stride and, day say, have played their part, the inexperienced bowling unit had to step up. Matheesha Pathirana has gone for over 90 runs in both the previous matches, straying in line more often while Dilshan Madhushanka has been food in parts only. They also are 0-2 and a win here is a must for them to keep themselves in the hunt for a semis spot.

What: Australia vs. Sri Lanka, Match 14, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

When: October 16, 2023, 2:00 PM IST

Where: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

AUS vs SL Team News:

Australia

The day before the game usually is an optional session, hence not many turned up to practice, but one noticeable fact was Alex Carey, who was dropped for the South Africa game, faced an array of left-arm spinners. You could argue it is to counter the left of Wellalage, but chances of Caery making a comeback in place of Josh Inglis look bleak. Cummins did mention there will not be many changes to the team for the SL game, following the SA defeat, meaning Inglis may get another chance to prove himself. Stoinis, who came in for Cam Green, for the SA game scored only 5 and bowled only two overs. It may be prudent for Australia to bring back Green for that extra bowling option, but it is highly unlikely that they will change their XI, as per what Cummins said during the presser.

ICC World Cup: SCHEDULE | RESULTS | POINTS TABLE | MOST RUNS | MOST WICKETS

Probable Playing XI: 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Sri Lanka

A big blow in the form of skipper Dasun Shanka came Sri Lanka’s way with him eventually being ruled out of the competition. In him, SL lost their inspirational leader, later order enforcer and the fifth bowling option, who would have been handy in these conditions. But, in Chamika Karunaratne they have a likely for like replacement. Pathirana, who has been off-colour, could very well be replaced by Kasun Rajitha and if fit, Lahiru Kumara could get a game at the expense of Madhushanka. But a lot will ride on the tiroka of Theekshana, de Silva and Wellalage. There were talks of Kusal Perera’s lack of form being a worry, but stand-in captain Mendis expelled such thoughts saying the team management is willing to give him the long rope.

Probable Playing XI: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

Quotes:

Everyone’s desperate to turn it around. I think looking back at 2019, India and South Africa were the two teams that we lost to in the round games there. I think in the last year, they’re kind of the two teams that we’ve had the most trouble against. So, you know, the opportunity now is we’ve got some teams we haven’t played for a while that we’ve had a lot of success against and be confident when we go out there. – Pat Cummins, Australian Skipper

It is good for us that the weather here is similar to our conditions. I think that will be a big advantage for us. – Kusal Mendis, Sri Lankan Skipper