Not another washout: Lanka expects action as they take on Australia

With two matches abandoned due to rain, Sri Lanka is finally looking forward to some action as the weather seems fine this time in London. The asian side will take on the mighty Australia at the Kennington Oval at 3 PM (IST) on Saturday (June 15).

According to the Met department’s predictions, a bright weekend is on the cards in the England capital after a long rainy week. This comes as a good news for the two teams as showers had already interrupted and washed out matches and practice sessions at Cardiff and Bristol.

However, odds are expected to be in Australia’s favour since Sri Lanka has not played a single match since June 4. Meanwhile, Australia has clinched a sounding victory in their last match against Pakistan, winning the game by 41 runs.

Countering the Aussie pacers — Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson — seem to be extremely difficult as they are in their best form and are picking up wickets with short balls, which is not a strong scoring point of the Lankan batsmen.

Toss prediction

The Aussies are not having a good time with the toss, but they’re looking for more chases. Hence, if they happen to win the toss against Sri Lanka, they might want to bowl first.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka is expected take a call on whether to bat or bowl first according to the weather conditions.

Australia

Australia bagged a nail-biting victory against Pakistan and are looking forward to continue the streak. The squad is likely to remain the same.

Predicted XI:

David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa/Kane Richardson

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s key player LasithMalinga is back in action after flying home for attending his mother-in-law’s funeral. The team’s fielding could be a matter of concern but their bowling attack is expected to be on point.

Predicted XI:

Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Perera (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis/Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga

Head to Head:

Australia and Sri Lanka have clashed 96 times in the past, of which Australia won 60, Sri Lanka won 32 and four matches ended with no results.

At the venue, Australia has won eight out of 16 ODIs, lost seven and one match was abandoned, whereas, Sri Lanka has played 12 ODIs, won five and lost seven.