 It is said that in cricket its not over until it actually is over. Same can be
said about the ongoing Commonwealth Bank Series where the swings and turns of
the points table have left it open for the visiting teams to qualify for the finals
or pack up and go home. Australia and Sri Lanka meet in the final league
fixture, with the latter knowing that a defeat will send them out.
Australia, the home side, have qualified for the bets-of-three finals after
their comfortable win against India on Sunday. While for them the match is a
dead rubber, they would no doubt want to maintain their momentum, and also register
a win against Sri Lanka. Should they lose, it will be their straight defeat
against Sri Lanka and will face them in the finals as well.
Click for Live Score Card of Australia Vs Sri Lanka
On the other hand, they have beaten India thrice and would be more comfortable
facing them in the finals. In the last match, David Hussey and Matthew
Wade scored crucial half-centuries in the middle order after the top order,
barring David Warner, failed to do anything substantial. The bowlers were also
amongst the wickets and Brett Lee's economical bowling will be a major plus. James Pattinson, newly inducted into the squad, could get a game ahead
of the finals.
Sri Lanka were in a comfortable position needing one point from their last
two matches to qualify. While that proposition stands, a defeat will spell a
nightmarish end to an otherwise good tour. Yet it is an uphill task for the
team management to find answers to the sort of demolition they suffered at the
hands of Virat Kohli. Any captain would take a 320-run total batting first,
but Mahela Jayawardene will have to be more open to ideas than merely
deploying Lasith Malinga endlessly. Malinga conceded 96 runs for a solitary
wicket in under eight overs.
The match day/night match in Melbourne starts at 2.20pm local time.
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