Sri Lanka makes one change for second ODI today

Friday, 14 February 2025 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Australians during a practice session

Nishan Madushka in for Avishka Fernando
Australia looks for win ahead of Champions Trophy

Nishan Madushka

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka should take pride from the fact that the Australian side they beat in the first ODI by 49 runs was entirely of players named by Cricket Australia for the ICC Champions Trophy tournament starting in Pakistan and Dubai later this month.

With the unavailability of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc alongside the retirement of Marcus Stoinis, Cricket Australia named a 15-member squad for the two-match ODI series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy.

Australia who at one time looked like running away with the match when they had half the Sri Lanka side out for 55, were stunned into silence by Charith Asalanka’s captain’s knock of 126 which gave his team a respectable total of 214. How well Sri Lanka defended it through their spinners to bowl Australia out for 165 on a surface which had everything for the bowlers as well as for the batters made it a memorable win for the home side.

Since the advent of 50-over internationals more than half a century ago, only 19 other individual players have contributed a greater proportion of their team’s total than Asalanka’s 59.34 per cent. He was also single handedly responsible for Sri Lanka staging the best fightback after finding themselves 55-5 or less in an ODI against Australia since West Indies lifted themselves from 45-5 to reach 220 at the SCG in 2012-13.

Sri Lanka will look to extend that success into today’s second ODI at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium and try and clinch the series to repeat their success against Australia two years back when they won 3-2.

As for Australia they will be keen to win one back and go to the Champions Trophy on a winning note. Three of their key players whom they rested for the first ODI – Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis are likely to return to the side giving them plenty of experience which they probably lacked in the first game.

Steve Smith who will lead Australia in the Champions Trophy for the injured Pat Cummins expressing his thoughts after the first ODI said that he was keen to win the Champions Trophy with the squad that has been picked for the Sri Lanka series and the Champions Trophy.

“It was a tricky wicket to bat on for sure. But it played similarly throughout. There was not a whole heap of spin, it was skidding on. The batters could not get going but better for the run. We have got a big ICC event coming up and that’s in our mind, of course we want to win it.”

Sri Lanka on the other hand have made one change to their batting leaving out Avishka Fernando and replacing him with Nishan Madushka who will open the batting with Pathum Nissanka. Sri Lanka will have to come up with a better batting performance than they did in the first where the top order was left struggling to combat the seam movement and bounce the Australian fast bowlers managed to extract out of the surface when the ball was new. The pitch for today’s contest is a new surface.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.