Sri Lanka vs Australia 2nd ODI Match Preview: Hosts Sri Lanka look to bounce back
With a nail-biting two-wicket win over Sri Lanka, the mighty Australian team has started off quite well in the five matches ODI series
Sri Lanka looking to bounce back in 2nd ODINow all eyes are on the 2nd ODI, which will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka. On Thursday, the wounded Sri Lankan team will lock horns against Aaron Finch-led Australia.
A challenging battle for both teams!
Although Australia won the first match, we saw many flaws in the team's performance. It was an advantage of the DLS method, due to which the team managed to seal the victory. Australia is blessed with a solid middle order that helped them record a fighting score in the previous match. With an aspect of a fighting score, Australia needs to work on its openers while the middle order must also carry their flow in today's match. Glenn Maxwell's stunning form will give the team an extra hand, while Steven Smith and Aaron Finch, too, seem in a good flow. Talking about the bowling unit, the Finch-led team has a matter of concern in the death overs. However, the team will have an extra advantage of Marnus Labuschagne as an additional bowling option.
Looking at the Sri Lankan team, the team fought well and showed brilliant performances from both the units however faced defeat in the first ODI. The batters turned out to be great in the first match as the team managed to record 300 runs on the board. Kusal Mendis will be looking forward to continuing his splendid batting as it will be essential to boost the Sri Lankan batting line-up. The openers are doing their job quite prolifically as we saw a hundred runs stand between the two in the first match. The top three batters will be a massive obstacle for Australia, and we can hope for some exciting battle from Australia to take down these three key players. Although the batting line-up seems quite balanced, the team has some concerns in the bowling unit. A big drawback that the team will have in today's game will be the absence of their star spinner Wanindu Hasaranga due to an injury. The team can also go for Dhananjaya de Silva to bowl his full quota by bringing Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the middle order. Also, the team will have some huge expectations from Dusmantha Chameera, who went wicketless in the first match.
Pitch Report
The Pallekele Cricket Stadium is considered suitable for batting and will provide some support for the batters. It will provide less help for the spinners, unlike for the pitch in the first game; however, as the game moves forward, the spinners will turn out lethal in the middle overs. Batting in the second innings will be a bit challenging, and the teams will look forward to batting first after winning the toss.
Stats to keep an eye on!
- After the Covid pandemic season, Glenn Maxwell has managed to play just 7 ODIs; however, he has scored 433 runs with an average of 80.60
- David Warner has been dismissed 13 times by right-arm-off spinners!
With the win in the first match, Australia is leading the five-match series by 1-0 and will indeed look forward to maintaining this in today's game, whereas the Sri Lankan team will look for a comeback. Looking at the situation, it will be an exciting battle between the two teams, and we can surely hope for some great action!