 Australia will play Sri Lanka in the 20th game of the Cricket World Cup on March 5. The match will be played at the R Premadasa in Colombo.
Australia have played in a couple of games in the tournament so far
and have had an excellent start to the World Cup. They were easy winners in
both their matches, with wins over the likes of Zimbabwe and New Zealand in
the two games. On the other hand Sri Lanka were expected to go into the World
Cup a favourites but out of the three matches, they have won two but lost one.
The wins came against the lowly Kenya and Canada whereas the loss came against
Pakistan, a side which have looked good in the tournament so far.
Click for Live Score Card of Sri Lanka Vs Australia
Australia will look to continue their winning run. In fact, what is surprising
is that the last game that they had ever lost in the World Cup was way back
in 1999; since the tied game against South Africa in the semi-finals, they have
won every game that they have played and unless the Lankan side can come up
with something special, life will be difficult for the Sri Lankans.
That said, they have been able to unveil Lasith Malinga in the tournament.
after he missed the first two games in the World Cup, Malinga made a comeback
in the game against Kenya, who found his Yorkers so hot to handle that they
kept getting bowled or lbw, and by the time the innings had ended, he had had
a hat-trick to his name and a six-wicket haul. This will mean that the Aussies
will need to be wary of the spinners and the pace bowling of Malinga alike.
How Sri Lanka bat against the pace of the likes of Tait, Lee and Johnson will
remain to be seen. The three have been some of the best pace men in the tournament
and if they get the chance to bat under the lights, they will find it easier
to bowl and make life more miserable for the Lankan batsmen.
Where the Aussies may struggle is in the middle-order and with the spin bowling
department. And it is not only because they are generally struggling but because
the likes of White, Michael Hussey and Ponting will be playing a lot
of spin and then, the spinners will be bowling to some of the best players of
spin.
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