Sri Lanka would take on Australia in the 1st ODI match of the Sri Lanka vs Australia 2011. The match will be hosted at Kandy. Schedule time of Match is 10:00 Local Time (04:30 GMT). The match is schedule to be played on Aug 10, 2011. The match would be played in day time.
After a disappointing show in the T20 match, Australia would be hoping to start the 3 match ODI series with a win at Melbourne on Wednesday, 3rd November. The last time Australia won an international match, was in July against Pakistan and the home side are desperate to stem the run of consecutive defeats with the Ashes around the corner. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be looking to continue their momentum and go one-nil up in the super short series.
Australia will be missing the services of their regular captain Ricky Ponting for this game, who will be absent due to his grandmother's funeral. The side will be led by Michael Clarke, who no shortage of experience in leading the national side. Sri Lanka, led by Kumar Sangakkara, will be high on confidence after their impressive showing in the T20 game. The team has a right mixture of youngsters and experienced players and this outing will be a good chance for the youngsters to stake a claim for a starting berth come the World Cup.
Australia
Stand-in captain Michael Clarke will have a huge responsibility to boost the morale of the team, who have been facing some exceptionally rare back-to-back defeats in all formats. To help him in his task will be stalwarts Mitchell Johnson and Michael Hussey, who were rested for the T20 game, will be making a return for the first ODI at the MCG.
Shane Watson will in all likelihood be opening the innings with Shaun Marsh, and the latter will be desperate to get some runs under his belt and cement a permanent spot at the top of the order. Michael Clarke will probably bump himself up the order into Ponting'sno.3 spot and the rest of the batsmen are likely to follow suit. Cameron White showcased how devastating he can be come the end of an innings in a recent game against India and his powerhitting will be very handy. Australia bat exceptionally deep and .
The return of Mitchell Johnson will certainly boost their bowling attack. McKay and Siddle, who played in the T20 game, would be expected to perform better and take some wickets. McKay though can take inspiration from the previous game, where he conceded just 19 runs in his 4 overs, though he would be expected to take some wickets also. Left arm slow bowler Xavier Doherty is expected to make his international debut in this game, and he should enjoy bowling at the MCG having taken a five wicket haul in the Sheffield Shield game on the same ground last week.
Sri Lanka
After an impressive show in the T20 game, the Sri Lankan fans would be hoping for a similar performance at Melbourne also. The young guns, SurajRandiv and ThisaraPerera played a vital role in their win and would be anxious to keep contributing in an attempt to seal a place in the side.
The openers Tharanga and Dilshan usually give the team a fast start, and with in-form skipper Sangakkara and superstar MahelaJayawardene to follow, their top 4 would be expected to score the bulk of the runs. The Sri Lankan lower middle order has the ability to clear most grounds and Mathews and Perera are capable of a real flourish at the end. After scoring 17 off just 4 in the T20 game, Perera would certainly be a dangerous batsman to deal with.
Their bowling attack looks pretty strong too. Dilhara Fernando has the pace to trouble most batsmen while NuwanKulasekara is Mr. Consistency. LasithMalinga is the best death bowler in the game today and will be incredibly hard to score off. Spinners, SurajRandiv and MuttiahMuralitharan are both match winners and should relish having a go on the MCG track.
Playing XI Squad
Australia – Clarke (c), Watson, Hussey, White, Marsh, Haddin (Wk), Smith, Johnson, McKay, Siddle, Doherty.
Sri Lanka – Sangakkara (c), Dilshan, Tharanga, Jayawardene, Perera, Mathews, Kapugedera, Randiv, Fernando, Malinga, Muralitharan
Peter Siddle– is returning from injury and will be itching to make a big impression in this series. He hasn't played an ODI since January, and this series is a golden opportunity for him to find some form before the Ashes.
ThisaraPerera – He played a significant role in the T20 match. His all-round performance of 2/22, followed by 17 crucial late runs cements his place in the side as a second genuine allrounder.
Prediction: Sri Lanka will be high on confidence with their T20 win and would be looking to pick up another upset win. Australia on the other hand, is already struggling and the news of their skipper Ricky Ponting not participating in this match will only bring their morale down. Despite form being against them, we believe the Aussies have more than enough fight in them to take the game to the Lankans and should they be able to knock over a couple of top order wickets early, the home side should be able to pick up a win.
