Sri Lanka are playing three spinners in the side today.
TEAMS
Sri Lanka: WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara (captain), DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, AD Mathews, HMRKB Herath, SL Malinga, M Muralitharan, BAW Mendis
Australia: SR Watson, BJ Haddin†, RT Ponting (captain), MJ Clarke, DJ Hussey, CL White, SPD Smith, MG Johnson, JJ Krejza, B Lee, SW Tait
MATCH PREVIEW
By Rajarshi Gupta in Colombo
They do not like Australia here in Sri Lanka. Period. Ever since Arjuna Ranatunga and Muttiah Muralitharan got embroiled in the ‘chucking row', relations between the two cricket sides have been strained at best. Sri Lanka's moment of glory finally arrived when they buried Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 1996 to lift their first ICC Cricket World Cup.
A lot has happened in the 15 years since that historic evening in Pakistan. Sri Lanka are now a force to reckon with in world cricket while Australia went on to dominate the game like no other team after the West Indies of the 1980's. Saturday's contest, therefore, will be a much-awaited treat. Neither side likes losing to the other and Sri Lanka would be wary of a passionate crowd, which would have taken for granted a Lankan victory over their arch-rivals.
Taking Australia for granted would be a mistake of unparalleled proportions and it is not a mistake the Sri Lankan think-tank will make. The two sides have played 71 ODI's against each other and Australia have won a staggering 47 of them, Sri Lanka 22 while two have fetched no results.
What does tilt the scales in favour of the Emerald Islanders is that 40 per cent of those 22 victories have come over the last decade, an indication of Sri Lanka's growing influence amongst the big boys. However, Australia are not world champions for nothing. They have won 31 matches on the trot in ICC CWC's and again are ahead of Sri Lanka, winning six of their seven ICC CWC encounters, including the 2007 final in the West Indies.
However, statistics will matter little when the Kangaroos face a charged-up Sri Lanka in front of a hostile crowd. Ricky Ponting conceded Australia are no longer the side they once were and to put it past beyond the hosts will take all his resources to click together. Sri Lanka have a bowling attack that can match the best in the business and the Aussies have been a worried lot. The defending champions have planned and trained carefully to tackle any threats from Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan but will that be enough?
Malinga's six-wicket burst against Kenya and Murali's ability to torment batting sides on slow wickets will give Ponting sleepless nights. Some Australia's top-order batsmen do play spin rather well but their spineless show against India in Bangalore on a square turner would have left the coaching staff with some headaches. There is nothing to suggest the Premadasa track will hold any such devils but Shahid Afridi's exploits will lift the spinners from both sides. Muralitharan, in his last ICC CWC for Sri Lanka would want to make an impact against a nation that questioned his integrity and skills as the world's best off-spinner. Rest assured things will not be easy for the Aussies.
The focus obviously has been on the bowling strengths. If Sri Lanka have the magnificent M's at their disposal (don't forget Ajantha Mendis), Australia will unleash Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and most certainly, Jason Krejza, the off-spinner, who replaced an injured Nathan Hauritz at the last moment.
Krejza came back well after an expensive start to his spell against India in a warm-up game and is capable enough of extracting any help the wicket might offer. Ponting also has the option of using young leg-spinner, Steven Smith, who has openly expressed a desire to play against Sri Lanka. Given Afridi's stunning record in the ICC CWC so far, the skipper might just be tempted to give the leggie a break, ahead of a more experienced off-spinner. Australia's pace attack might give them an edge against the Lankans- Tait and Lee are lethal with the new ball and at the death overs and Johnson has never failed to impress batsmen around the world.
Conditions have been overcast all of Friday and if they continue to stay that way, Australia would like to put Sri Lanka in after winning the toss- leave the rest to Tait and his mates.
Australia and Sri Lanka will, though, go in with some batting issues. The four-time world champions have had to rely a lot on Shane Watson at the top while Ricky Ponting is just about returning to form. The middle-order will need to show more spunk and get things moving. Sri Lanka's middle-order has been dodgy too. Once the top three fail, how much can the rest deliver? Saturday's contest will be decided by the bowlers.
Sri Lanka vs Australia
World Cup
The two countries have contested eight world cup games. Australia have won six and lost two, including the one forfeited by them at Colombo RPS due to safety concerns on February 17, 1996. On the day of the game, the Australians were in Mumbai.
Australia have won their last four games at the world cup against Sri Lanka - Centurion and Port Elizabeth in 2003 and St.George's and Bridgetown in 2007.
ODIs
Australia have won 47 and lost 22 out of 71 played against Sri Lanka (NR 2)- winning % 68.11. Sri Lanka's winning % is 31.88.
Overall World Cup record
Australia have won 53 and lost 17 out of 71 played (Tied 1) - winning % 75.35.
Sri Lanka have won 27 and lost 31 out of 60 played (Tied 1 and NR 1) - winning % 46.61.
ODIs in 2011
Australia have won 8 and lost 1 out of 9 played - winning % 88.88.
Sri Lanka have won 4 and lost 1 out of 6 played (NR 11) - winning % 80.00
Approaching milestones
Ricky Ponting (994) is all set to become the first captain to complete 1,000 runs in the world cup.
In case of a hundred, Ponting would take his tally of centuries to four as captain and to surpass Sourav Ganguly's feat of three hundreds.
Australia would like to extend their consecutive tally of most wins at the world cup. They have already won 25 in succession - a record unlikely to be surpassed.
Kumar Sangakkara (8867) requires 133 runs to complete his 9000 runs in ODIs.
Cameron White (1991) requires nine runs to complete his 2000 runs in ODIs.
TEAMS
Sri Lanka: WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara (captain), DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, AD Mathews, HMRKB Herath, SL Malinga, M Muralitharan, BAW Mendis
Australia: SR Watson, BJ Haddin†, RT Ponting (captain), MJ Clarke, DJ Hussey, CL White, SPD Smith, MG Johnson, JJ Krejza, B Lee, SW Tait
MATCH PREVIEW
By Rajarshi Gupta in Colombo
They do not like Australia here in Sri Lanka. Period. Ever since Arjuna Ranatunga and Muttiah Muralitharan got embroiled in the ‘chucking row', relations between the two cricket sides have been strained at best. Sri Lanka's moment of glory finally arrived when they buried Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 1996 to lift their first ICC Cricket World Cup.
A lot has happened in the 15 years since that historic evening in Pakistan. Sri Lanka are now a force to reckon with in world cricket while Australia went on to dominate the game like no other team after the West Indies of the 1980's. Saturday's contest, therefore, will be a much-awaited treat. Neither side likes losing to the other and Sri Lanka would be wary of a passionate crowd, which would have taken for granted a Lankan victory over their arch-rivals.
Taking Australia for granted would be a mistake of unparalleled proportions and it is not a mistake the Sri Lankan think-tank will make. The two sides have played 71 ODI's against each other and Australia have won a staggering 47 of them, Sri Lanka 22 while two have fetched no results.
What does tilt the scales in favour of the Emerald Islanders is that 40 per cent of those 22 victories have come over the last decade, an indication of Sri Lanka's growing influence amongst the big boys. However, Australia are not world champions for nothing. They have won 31 matches on the trot in ICC CWC's and again are ahead of Sri Lanka, winning six of their seven ICC CWC encounters, including the 2007 final in the West Indies.
However, statistics will matter little when the Kangaroos face a charged-up Sri Lanka in front of a hostile crowd. Ricky Ponting conceded Australia are no longer the side they once were and to put it past beyond the hosts will take all his resources to click together. Sri Lanka have a bowling attack that can match the best in the business and the Aussies have been a worried lot. The defending champions have planned and trained carefully to tackle any threats from Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan but will that be enough?
Malinga's six-wicket burst against Kenya and Murali's ability to torment batting sides on slow wickets will give Ponting sleepless nights. Some Australia's top-order batsmen do play spin rather well but their spineless show against India in Bangalore on a square turner would have left the coaching staff with some headaches. There is nothing to suggest the Premadasa track will hold any such devils but Shahid Afridi's exploits will lift the spinners from both sides. Muralitharan, in his last ICC CWC for Sri Lanka would want to make an impact against a nation that questioned his integrity and skills as the world's best off-spinner. Rest assured things will not be easy for the Aussies.
The focus obviously has been on the bowling strengths. If Sri Lanka have the magnificent M's at their disposal (don't forget Ajantha Mendis), Australia will unleash Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and most certainly, Jason Krejza, the off-spinner, who replaced an injured Nathan Hauritz at the last moment.
Krejza came back well after an expensive start to his spell against India in a warm-up game and is capable enough of extracting any help the wicket might offer. Ponting also has the option of using young leg-spinner, Steven Smith, who has openly expressed a desire to play against Sri Lanka. Given Afridi's stunning record in the ICC CWC so far, the skipper might just be tempted to give the leggie a break, ahead of a more experienced off-spinner. Australia's pace attack might give them an edge against the Lankans- Tait and Lee are lethal with the new ball and at the death overs and Johnson has never failed to impress batsmen around the world.
Conditions have been overcast all of Friday and if they continue to stay that way, Australia would like to put Sri Lanka in after winning the toss- leave the rest to Tait and his mates.
Australia and Sri Lanka will, though, go in with some batting issues. The four-time world champions have had to rely a lot on Shane Watson at the top while Ricky Ponting is just about returning to form. The middle-order will need to show more spunk and get things moving. Sri Lanka's middle-order has been dodgy too. Once the top three fail, how much can the rest deliver? Saturday's contest will be decided by the bowlers.
Sri Lanka vs Australia
World Cup
The two countries have contested eight world cup games. Australia have won six and lost two, including the one forfeited by them at Colombo RPS due to safety concerns on February 17, 1996. On the day of the game, the Australians were in Mumbai.
Australia have won their last four games at the world cup against Sri Lanka - Centurion and Port Elizabeth in 2003 and St.George's and Bridgetown in 2007.
ODIs
Australia have won 47 and lost 22 out of 71 played against Sri Lanka (NR 2)- winning % 68.11. Sri Lanka's winning % is 31.88.
Overall World Cup record
Australia have won 53 and lost 17 out of 71 played (Tied 1) - winning % 75.35.
Sri Lanka have won 27 and lost 31 out of 60 played (Tied 1 and NR 1) - winning % 46.61.
ODIs in 2011
Australia have won 8 and lost 1 out of 9 played - winning % 88.88.
Sri Lanka have won 4 and lost 1 out of 6 played (NR 11) - winning % 80.00
Approaching milestones
Ricky Ponting (994) is all set to become the first captain to complete 1,000 runs in the world cup.
In case of a hundred, Ponting would take his tally of centuries to four as captain and to surpass Sourav Ganguly's feat of three hundreds.
Australia would like to extend their consecutive tally of most wins at the world cup. They have already won 25 in succession - a record unlikely to be surpassed.
Kumar Sangakkara (8867) requires 133 runs to complete his 9000 runs in ODIs.
Cameron White (1991) requires nine runs to complete his 2000 runs in ODIs.
