Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
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Dunith Wellalage bowls in the nets during a practice session at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Head Coach Chris Silverwood and Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka examine the pitch for today’s first ODI
Australia’s Kane Richardson heads for home after being ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka intend tackling Australia with spin for the five-match ODI series which commences at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium today.
Captain Dasun Shanaka gave a hint to what he has up his sleeve for the Australians when he said that the wickets at Pallekele will be the same as that used for the last T20I on Saturday which Sri Lanka won in a record-breaking chase to boost their morale ahead of the ODI series. It will be spin friendly and the combination Sri Lanka are looking at going into the first ODI is three spinners along with six batsmen and two all-rounders.
Among the three spinners Shanaka spoke of was Sri Lanka’s Under-19 World Cup Captain Dunith Wellalage having a good chance of making it to the playing eleven and earning his Sri Lankan cap. Wellalage bowls left-arm orthodox spin and is also a useful lower order batsman who can balance the side nicely with the other two spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.
Sri Lanka can gain confidence that the last two ODI series played at home against South Africa and Zimbabwe they won by 2-1 margins.
“If you take the two series we won against South Africa and Zimbabwe and also against India we played very well. What we need to do is to bring the same game here as well,” said Shanaka. “We have prepared well for the series and mentally we are in a good frame of mind. The onus is on the batsmen which way the game goes. I hope our batsmen will deliver in the series. We need at least two batsmen to score big for us to win. We have the confidence, and the batting unit is aware of what is expected of them. What they need to do is to make the conversion from T20 to fifty-over. That is the big challenge.”
The series unfortunately is not part of the World Cup Super League and will carry no points for qualification for next year’s fifty-over World Cup in India.
Nevertheless, it will affect the ICC ODI rankings where currently Australia is lying in third and Sri Lanka eighth.
“We are looking at winning against Australia and moving up the rankings. We know that if we beat Australia who are ranked higher than us, we will get more points. This series is very important to improve our rankings,” said Shanaka.
On a compassionate note, Shanaka said: “We know the people in the country are going through very difficult times but despite it they are supporting us in numbers. We are thankful for the support they are giving us. In this ODI series the players are ready to deliver on behalf of the nation.”
Australia will have the majority of their ODI squad together in more than 18 months. Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out they have had only two ODI series since late 2020 against West Indies and Pakistan.
Australia’s spearhead Mitchell Starc is likely to be out of action till the third ODI, but they will have their red ball captain Pat Cummins joining the squad for the series after 18 months during which period he has recovered from a hip injury.
“Mitchell still has stitches in his hand, but he is likely to be available for the third ODI. Being a significant injury to his bowling finger and him not being able to have any tape on that during a game when he bowls, makes it a little bit more difficult,” said Australian captain Aaron Finch.
“Pat looks like he is up and running. It’s good to have him back not just for his bowling skills but his leadership. His cricket brain is really important on the cricket field as well.”
With Marnus Labuschagne, wicket-keeper Alex Carey and Cummins returning to the ODI side Australia’s batting runs deep till number nine.
Finch naming the side for today’s game had David Warner to open the batting with him followed by Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson and Mark Hazlewood.
“The wickets over a five-game series won’t be as high as in Pakistan. They were very good batting wickets in Pakistan so it’s good to have that batting so that we can be continuously aggressive all the way throughout 50-overs with the bat,” said Finch.
Australia will be without fast bowler Kane Richardson for the series. “Kane has to leave the tour. Got a severe hamstring injury suffered early in the game the other night. He is going to be replaced in this group by Scott Boland.”
