Australia [334/7] beat Sri Lanka [247] by 87 runs in 20th match of 2019 World Cup

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Sitting pretty in the top section of the points table, Australia will look to consolidate their favourable position when they take on lowly Sri Lanka in Match 20 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 in London on Saturday, 15 June.

Overview

Sri Lanka v Australia

The Oval, London
2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Match 20
Saturday, 15 June; 10.30am local, 09.30am GMT

With three wins from four matches, Australia increasingly look like strong contenders for a spot in the final four, but these are still early days and they will want to keep the foot on the pedal when they take on Sri Lanka at the Oval to build on that early advantage.

The good thing for Australia is that they've managed to win most of their games despite, seemingly, not hitting maximum potential. But the good news for them is that pieces have begun falling in place.

With David Warner batting with characteristic fluency for his century in the match against Pakistan, Australia's top-order suddenly looks markedly more formidable, while the middle-order has been in good form to begin with.

The bowling has a well-rounded look to it as well. The one issue for Australia, though, is in the spin department. Adam Zampa has been inconsistent and got the axe in the previous game. Glenn Maxwell was entrusted with bulk of the slower bowling duties in his absence, but was expensive. Aaron Finch's left-arm spin reaped wickets, but Australia will know they can't keep relying on the part-timers to fire. Perhaps, we might see Nathan Lyon come in at the Oval?

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are placed fifth on the points table with one victory and a couple of washouts. In their two completed games, they've not looked a very challenging side, but could change perceptions about their chances with a solid performance against Australia.

It's in the batting department that they need most work as they've been bowled out for measly scores of 136 and 201 so far. Dimuth Karunaratne, the skipper, and Kusal Perera have been among the runs, but they need more contributors, and fast.

Key players

David Warner (Australia): So great is the left-handed opener's reputation that there were questions raised off his form after he scored two fifties from his first three innings this tournament, owing to a slightly underwhelming strike-rate. He put even those doubts to rest with a sublime 111-ball 107 against Pakistan in testing conditions. His characteristic shots were back and he moved freely – one can expect him to make a lot of runs this tournament.

Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka): The seam-bowling all-rounder has plenty to offer with both bat and ball in ODI cricket, but it is with the bat that team really needs him to find consistency. A naturally attacking batsman, Perera might want to consider tuning down the aggression for a more stable role given Sri Lanka's woes with the bat. If he gets things right, it will add depth to the team's batting.

Conditions: Things should be fairly bright at the Oval on Saturday although clouds will make appearances every now and then. A few showers can be expected too, but we should still get a game in. The pitch has been a good one for batting, and there's no reason to believe that will change.

Squads

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1245208

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Sri Lanka v Australia

• Sri Lanka and Australia have not met in a men’s ODI since 2016 when they faced off in a five
game series in Sri Lanka which the tourists won 4-1.
• This will be the 10th match between Sri Lanka and Australia in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
history, Australia have won seven of the previous nine (L2) including each of the last five and
their clash in 2015.
• Sri Lanka and Australia have met twice before in men’s ODIs at The Oval, each side picking
up one win, Sri Lanka winning an ICC Champions Trophy game in 2013 whilst Australia won
an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup clash back in 1975.
• Sri Lanka played two ICC Champions Trophy games at The Oval in 2017, their most recent
games at the London venue, losing to South Africa before beating India by seven wickets.
• Australia have lost their last four completed men’s ODIs at The Oval, their last such victory
coming against England in 2010.
• Australia have won nine of their last 10 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup matches, their solitary
defeat in this run came at The Oval however, against India earlier in this tournament.
• In the most recent men’s ODI series between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2016, Mitchell Starc
was the leading wicket taker across the five matches, claiming 12 scalps at an average of
18.2, his best ever haul in a bi-lateral ODI series.
• Aaron Finch and David Warner have put on 2,444 ODI runs together as a partnership (52
innings, averaging 47), they compiled 146 runs together against Pakistan last time out, a sixth
century partnership for the duo in ODIs.
• Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) needs four more wickets to become the fourth bowler to reach 50
scalps in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup history, after Glenn McGrath (71), Muttiah
Muralitharan (68) and Wasim Akram (55).
• A five wicket-haul for Mitchell Starc (31 wickets) would see him leapfrog Shane Warne (32),
Shaun Tait (34), Brad Hogg (34) ad Brett Lee (35) as Australia’s second highest wicket taker in
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup history, behind only Glenn McGrath (71).

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[Abdullah]

We need a favour from SL today.
Come on boys!

[Gabbar Singh]

If Australia bat first today would not be surprised if they got 400.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aaron Finch being asked by the son of former Australia wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, if he&#39;s ever going to win the toss <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvSL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://t.co/wNvXMvjzJ4">pic.twitter.com/wNvXMvjzJ4</a></p>&mdash; Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1139795382156910592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aaron Finch being asked by the son of former Australia wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, if he's ever going to win the toss <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvSL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWC19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CWC19</a> <a href="https://t.co/wNvXMvjzJ4">pic.twitter.com/wNvXMvjzJ4</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1139795382156910592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sri Lanka have won the toss and have opted to field


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[Majestic_Inzi]

Looks like another 300+ total..

[Mueez]

Sri Lanka pls win this one for us pls pls pls....

[Alamgeer]

SL anthem 😴

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

Sri Lanka pls win this one for us pls pls pls....

Hehe

[LongHorn]

SL anthem ��

I like it though, and a lot of the words are Sanskrit so can partly understand the meaning. They have also used a good version, unlike the slow one used for our anthem

[Faisalabadimunda]

Will be a walk over for Aus. But wud be great if sl can fo us a favour and somehow beat aus

[Faisalabadimunda]

Slow start frm Aus. Lets hope malinga the slinga can knock over a few early

[Faisalabadimunda]

Aus upping the anti now. Sl dnt have it in them to give Aus a tim for their money really

[RehanG]

Why did they won the toss and elected to field first?

[Faisalabadimunda]

Maybe they think they cant put score on board. Sloppy so far 3 misfields allowing 9 runs

[Draeoftroy]

Stupid decision by SRL captain to win toss and choose field. Australia going along without any problems.

59/0 in 11.2 overs

[Faisalabadimunda]

Aus got away with 1 ther

[IAJ]

Poor by umpire, should have give that out

[emranabbas]

Crime to field first after winning toss

[Ronaldo7]

How did we let Warner score a 100 against us?? Smh

[dhump]

what cricket no rain?

[Majestic_Inzi]

Warner is awful

[Faisalabadimunda]

Wel well well. Warner goes. Looked awfull. Dont know how we let him score a 100 against us. Thats shows how bad we bowled

[Majestic_Inzi]

Look at his strike rate, yet we go after Imaam.

[Faisalabadimunda]

Can sl strangle aus. Sl wud need to pick up a few more quick wkts then maybe aus will get a shiver done their ranks

[Majestic_Inzi]

The way they treat Khawaja is awful. It's not right

[Majestic_Inzi]

Can sl strangle aus. Sl wud need to pick up a few more quick wkts then maybe aus will get a shiver done their ranks

They don't hav the bowling.

[Faisalabadimunda]

They don't hav the bowling.

Well hope they can keep Aus rr down then that will bring wkts

[wrongun]

The way they treat Khawaja is awful. It's not right

Kwahaja vs the Marshes... facepalm is not enough.

[GLORY OF '92]

SL batting is deep. Keep Australia under 300 and they have a decent chance

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

SL batting is deep. Keep Australia under 300 and they have a decent chance

Even SL manage to win today, pakistan will not make in to the semi's.

[GLORY OF '92]

Even SL manage to win today, pakistan will not make in to the semi's.

I'm not talking about that am I?

[Faisalabadimunda]

Even SL manage to win today, pakistan will not make in to the semi's.

Why not?. So you saying a sl win is bad for pak??

[Faisalabadimunda]

Wow lol. Khwaja out

[Ronaldo7]

Why not?. So you saying a sl win is bad for pak??

It will give pak a higher chance to make it to the semis.

[Cricket World]

How overrated is this Aus team

[Faisalabadimunda]

If Sl get finch quickly that will put on brake on aus

[Faisalabadimunda]

Hm now Aus looking to increase run rate. Last thing sl need is Finch and smith taking game away frm them. Need to bring malinga back atack

[wrongun]

How overrated is this Aus team

So over-rated they will win this match with hardly a sweat & make the semi's without much trouble.

And it's not even regarded as a strong Australian team.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will need a miracle to reach semi's.

[Faisalabadimunda]

Right now sl giving jt all away. This is differsnce between a good team and a inconsistent team

[Faisalabadimunda]

49 of last 5 overs lol

[Draeoftroy]

Asutralia has been lethargic in this WorldCup. So unAustralia we are not used to . Giving chances to the opposition to get back, playing at slow rate. 2 soft dismissals both Warner and Khawaja getting themselves out.

Its Finch v Sri Lanka right now. Sri Lanka is suffering from its own issues as well.

[Faisalabadimunda]

This is so crazy. Sl giving the game away to aus. 40 runs of last 3 overs. Sl thanks for coming

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

Very bad to see malinga at this level. He is done with his career.

[Cricket World]

Finch the destroyer well played again

[Draeoftroy]

Pathetic cricket from Sri Lanka, making Pakistan team look more focused when they played against Aus and dropped 5-6 catches.

[shaaik]

A well deserved 100 for Aaron Finch, looking all set to make it big..

[Mp812]

Is that a green track . If it is hows Australia 200 for 2. If it's a batting track, will SL get 300?

[MMHS]

If SRL can keep AUS to a PAK level target, they might have a little chance, if they can withstand first 10-12 overs.

[JellyBro]

SL need a couple of quick wickets to get back in the game. It will be hard for the new players to get adjusted on this track.

[Nikhil_cric]

And these minnows want flat pitches? Australia would have scored 500 then.

[jnaveen1980]

Finch was in horrendous form for a while. Ever since Pakistan brought him back to form in UAE he has been unstoppable.

[DeadlyYorker]

80% chance,IND,NZ,AUS,ENG in semis
20%chance pak can make it

[DeadlyYorker]

Is that a green track . If it is hows Australia 200 for 2. If it's a batting track, will SL get 300?

They r less likely but woulf be amazing to see aussies lose

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

How bad australia in death overs. 360-370 was ON

[Mueez]

Can Sri Lanka chase this total?

Will need Kusal Mendis to play a blinder.

[Smbhayi]

of that awesome, two brilliant run-out by Udana...

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Aussies aren't a good side, just Pakistan and SL are worse. Commentator was absolutely spot on when he said Pakistan should have won the last game against Aus, they just didn't kept throwing it away.

[Ronaldo7]

They can actually chase this down.

[Cpt. Rishwat]

They can actually chase this down.

They won't.

[jnaveen1980]

Can we stop insulting opposition by calling "this australian team is the worst". That was one of the finest slow ball exhibition i have seen in a while from Udana. It is very hard to land back of the hand deliveries with such precision. To his credit he landed both his yorkers and slower ones spot on. His fielding was just the icing on the cake.

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

They can actually chase this down.

They are not capable of chase this down.

[Smbhayi]

Can Sri Lanka chase this total?

Will need Kusal Mendis to play a blinder.

they need Kushal Perera to click to have any chances..

[GLORY OF '92]

What a start

[jnaveen1980]

Australia missed a trick by leaving out Hazlewood. He would have enjoyed here. Look at Beherendoff. With a bit of movement he can be a handful. He is always an awkward customer to face. Bowled well against India. Also loss of Jhye Richardson was a big blow. Cummins is a traditional bowler. Starc has pace. That's it. Not enough variations like slower ones.

[RamLakhan]

At least a positive start so far! If Sri Lanka win this match it will spice up the tournament (which is by far been very dull at the moment!)

[Afhan Ali]

Lankans are on the for a good chase

[Ahmed216]

That is how this mediocre aus bowling attack deserves to be treated.
India too exposed them. But unfortunately pak batsmen get too overawed by the situation

[szundercover]

Aussies loosing today will be benefical for us.

[Inswinging Yorker]

That is how this mediocre aus bowling attack deserves to be treated.
India too exposed them. But unfortunately pak batsmen get too overawed by the situation

exactly Pak batsmen were in total control Imaam, Hafeez and Babar...then threw it away

[marlonbrowndo]

This is brilliant batting from SL. Hopefully Australia lose today since it’ll benefit Pakistan. So much fun to watch

[marlonbrowndo]

That is how this mediocre aus bowling attack deserves to be treated.
India too exposed them. But unfortunately pak batsmen get too overawed by the situation

That’s why people who our only blaming our bowling need to realize that it was our game when we were chasing. We just threw it away

[Khan12]

This is brilliant batting from SL. Hopefully Australia lose today since it’ll benefit Pakistan. So much fun to watch

How does it help Pakistan? Sorry for my ignorance.

[szundercover]

How does it help Pakistan? Sorry for my ignorance.

They have matches left against new Zealand,england and south Africa.I am backing these teams to beat the Aussies.Newzealand will surely be the third team to qualify.

[Afhan Ali]

Don't know why Pakistan batsman always throws it away in a runs chase

Babar see off Cummins and Starc quite effectively with 100+ strike rate but suddenly he throws it away to Coulter Nile

[marlonbrowndo]

Matthews should come up the order. Needs to take responsibility

[szundercover]

hope the lankans chase it in 40 overs,the aussies run rate will take a huge it.

[jnaveen1980]

Some of these pitches are very good to bat on. You can't go in with one dimensional attack. You need a different kind of bowler in between. Full credit to play courageously with no fear. Looks like the chase they orchestrated against India in CT 2017. They took their chance from start to finish. Everything came off. With a bit of luck they chase it down.

[Afhan Ali]

Don't know why Pakistan batsman always throws it away in a runs chase

Babar see off Cummins and Starc quite effectively with 100+ strike rate but suddenly he throws it away to Coulter Nile

Sometimes it is very frustrating to see Babar throws it away, he plays for 4 years but he is still unable to play even one impactful innings against a top team.