STAR PREVIEW: Sri Lanka v Australia

Australia have managed to build plenty of momentum into their World Cup run and it’s no surprise that the bookmakers have them as strong favourites to beat Sri Lanka at The Oval today.

Justin Langer’s men had looked in terrible shape just over a year ago when England were taking them around the park, but since then they have picked themselves up and rebuilt impressively before this tournament with back to back series wins against India and Pakistan and they’ve carried that into the group stage so far, with three wins from four.

The latest of those was against Pakistan, when they were put in on a very cloudy day and despite faltering late in the innings – they went from 277-4 for 307 all out – before taking out the Pakistan innings in ruthless style despite a lower order fightback from Pakistan for a 46 run win.

They look to be fully in flow, something which might not be said for Sri Lanka, who have had two of their games rained off already. However, their two performances haven’t exactly been totally encouraging so far. They fell to a 10 wicket defeat against New Zealand in the first game before denying Afghanistan a famous victory by winning a low-scoring thriller in Cardiff via DLS when they suffered a major batting collapse.

Their bowlers saved them on that occasion but their batsmen have not posted anything close to 200 in their two innings and even at the more batsman friendly Oval that spells trouble. Australia’s lineup, which was rejigged for the returning David Warner and Steve Smith, has plenty of top order firepower now when one adds Usman Khawaja to the mix before Glenn Maxwell cuts loose.

David Warner and Aaron Finch scored 89 and 66 against Afghanistan before hitting 107 and 82 against Pakistan and they also fought back when the ball’s moved early too.

It is the Aussies bowling, however, which should concern Dimuth Karunaratne and co. Mitchell Starc gave the West Indies a taste of their own medicine with a terrific 5-46 whilst Pat Cummins took 3-31 against Pakistan whilst ably backed by Starc and Kane Richardson when the going got tough and they will have watched Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson’s demolition of the Sri Lankans with interest.

The Aussies beat Afghanistan by seven wickets with Warner scoring 89 and Finch making 66 whilst Sri Lanka’s win came by 34 runs, so the gap between the two on paper look clear, although the match odds are far too short.

David Warner has already made a half century at The Oval to add to two other good knocks, including his century against Pakistan, and he makes appeal to top score for the Australians once again. He fought off the movement of Mohammad Amir at Taunton and this track might suit him better even with Lasith Malinga lurking.

Backing any of the Sri Lankans to be the leading scorers is fraught with risk, but Dimuth Karunaratne managed to post 52 against the Black Caps and 30 against Afghanistan. In what could be a low scoring contest his experience could give him a big advantage and he’s worth a small advantage.

Back to the Australian bowlers, and Mitchell Starc can have a better outing than he did against India. He was battered around the park there but law of averages through this tournament suggests he ought to be a thorn in the side of the bowlers and he had much success against Sri Lanka, albeit in tests, in February.

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