ICC World Cup, Australia vs Sri Lanka: Key player battles
Australia will fight for their first win in the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as they meet Sri Lanka in Match 14. The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow will host this affair on Monday (October 16). Sri Lanka also lost their first two games and must bounce back sooner than later. Here are the anticipated player battles.
Dilshan Madushanka vs David Warner
As Australian opener David Warner has been in impressive form lately, SL would want to send him back early. Left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka, who has enjoyed operating with the new ball, can trouble the southpaw early on. 10 of his 14 ODI wickets have come in the powerplay overs. Meanwhile, Warner has a strike rate of 90.66 in the first 10 overs in ODIs.
Marnus Labuschagne vs Maheesh Theekshana
Marnus Labuschagne is among the few Aussie batters who have been in form lately. He averages over 48 in ODIs this year. SL skipper Kusal Mendis might count on mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana to keep the Aussie batter quiet. As per ESPNcricinfo, Theekshana has conceded just 11 runs off 29 balls against Labuschagne in ODIs though he is yet to dismiss the batter.
Mitchell Starc vs Kusal Mendis
Mitchell Starc has been nothing but a nightmare for batters with the new ball. In 20 WC games, the left-arm speed merchant owns 52 scalps at 15.57. The in-form Mendis would be required to tackle this threat. Notably, Starc has managed to keep the star batter quiet, conceding just 28 runs off 47 balls against him in ODIs. He has also dismissed him once.
Adam Zampa versus Sadeera Samarawickrama
Another SL batter who has been among the runs lately is Sadeera Samarawickrama. As the wicketkeeper-batter operates at number, he is likely to tackle leg-spinner Adam Zampa in the middle overs. Samarawickrama likes to take on spinners as he has a strike rate of 92.76 against them in ODIs. However, he has also fallen prey to them 10 times in 15 ODI innings.
Here is the head-to-head record
Both teams have locked horns with each other on 102 occasions in ODIs. Australia have emerged victorious 63 times, while Sri Lanka have stamped a win on 35 instances (NR: 4). Australia have won six of their last nine matches against the Lankans in the 50-over format. In ODI WCs, Australia have eight wins and a solitary defeat against SL (NR: 1).
