So it is going to be the Aussies vs the Lankans. Sri Lanka and Australia are having a pretty rough tournament so far. Can you believe it? No win so far. Well, one of them will bag two points from this one. Or will the rain ruin the show? We will follow everything from predictions, live streaming, highlights and more. You can find the video in this paragraph; the rest of the content is below.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023
Australia has had pretty rough matches. The defeat at the hands of the hosts and the match against South Africa has pummeled their NRR to the ground. This is a must-win match for them. Otherwise, things will get very nasty for them in this World Cup.
Check: ICC World Cup Schedule 2023 PDF Download |Men’s one Day World Cup
Sri Lanka will be looking forward to a win as well. They are not at the bottom of the table like Australia. However, one more L can take them down. And it will be tough for them to jump back. How will this drama unfold?
Match details
Live streaming
Watching Australia vs. Sri Lanka live online promises to be an exciting experience. Both sides are desperate to win this World Cup, so every ball counts. Fans from both countries will be glued to their televisions, keen to witness every run, wicket, and historic moment as they occur.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Live Streaming
The beauty of live streaming is that you can watch everything in real-time and experience the tension and thrill as if you were in the stadium. Whether you’re supporting Australia or Sri Lanka, the live broadcast keeps you in the loop every step of the way, all from the comfort of your home.
Australia vs Sri Lanka CWC 2023 – Predictions
Now, this is going to be an exciting one. The Aussies are a strong team, but they are struggling. Sri Lanka looks forward to finding the right combination in their team and clinching this victory. Both of these teams did very well. However, they are desperate to regain their rhythm and perform like they have been in the past World Cups.
Key players
| Australia | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Marnus Labuschagne | Kusal Mendis |
| Josh Hazelwood | Maheesh Theekshana |
| Mitchell Starc | Dunith Wellalage |
Marcus Labuschagne wasn’t in the squad initially. But the selectors will be biting their nails as Marnus seems to be one of their only batters performing. He is expected to score in this match as well. He has to. Otherwise, this is going to be a tough day for Australia.
Josh is the number one bowler. Mitchell Starc is the fastest to take 50 wickets in cricket world cups. Both of these bowlers will be instrumental in containing the Lankan batters.
Kusal Mendis is in red-hot form. You cannot give this man a second life by dropping his catch. This is for sure. Pakistan did that, and they almost paid the price for it. Mendis is Sri Lanka’s hope in the batting lineup.
Spinners will be crucial in this match if you talk about the Lankan bowlers. Wellalage and Theekshana must step up their game and restrict the Australian side to a low total.
Pitch report
This is one of the only bowler-friendly pitches in this tournament. The average score in the ODIs since 2015 is 250, and slower bowlers get more success in terms of economy rate. Offspinners and Left-arm offspinners, in particular, get more success.
Other than that, bowlers who can change their pace and can utilize the unpredictability of this pitch will be dangerous for the batters.
Possible strategies
This is a slow pitch. So, Sri Lankans will get a lot of help here. We can expect to see Wellalage and Theekshana in action here. However, you shouldn’t sleep on Maxwell and Zampa. Leg spinners tend to get expensive here. But the way Zampa bowls, he will get some help from this surface.
You could say Starc is going to be practical here. However, beware of Hazelwood in this match.
The strategy for Sri Lanka will be to restrict Australian batters with their spinners like the Boa. Once they do that, wickets will fall if the Aussies succumb to the pressure. Australia will try to implement a similar strategy. However, Hazelwood can prove to be the strike bowler.
Batters need to spend more time on the crease and survive as much as possible. And then they can go ballistic in the final overs.
Who will win?
Sri Lanka does have the upper hand based on the quality of their spin bowling. However, Australia’s batting attack seems to be more sturdy. Based on all the factors, Australia has a slightly better chance of winning this game.
Hence, our pick is the Kangaroos.
Highlights
The CricketWorlds team will update this during the match.
Toss
The Lankans won the toss, and they chose to bat first. The strategy is going to be the same. Hold wickets for the initial overs, and then go bang bang in the last 15.
Playing 11
| AUSTRALIA | SRI LANKA |
|---|---|
| Mitchell Marsh | Kusal Perera |
| David Warner | Pathum Nissanka |
| Steven Smith | Kusal Mendis |
| Marnus Labuschagne | Sadeera Samarawickrama |
| Josh Inglish | Charith Asalanka |
| Glenn Maxwell | Dhananjaya de Silva |
| Marcus Stoinis | Chamika Karunaratne |
| Mitcell Starc | Dunith Wellalage |
| Pat Cummins | Maheesh Theekshana |
| Adam Zampa | Dilshan Madushanka |
| Josh Hazelwood | Lahiru Kumara |
First innings – Sri Lanka
| SRI LANKA 209-10 (43.3 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Kusal Perera 78 (82) | Adam Zampa 4-47 |
| Pathum Nissanka 61 (67) | Mitchell Starc 2-43 |
| Charith Asalanka 25 (39) | Pat Cummins 2-32 |
| TARGET | 210 runs |
- Things started well for Sri Lanka. Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka had an opening stand of 125 runs in 130 deliveries. Nothing was going in Australia’s way. The bowlers were getting a harsh beating. Adam Zampa was struggling. Mitchell Starc was bowling at a horrible line. It was all chaos.
- But this was all to Sri Lanka’s glory and Australia’s misery. Pat Cummins came up and provided that breakthrough. Brilliant catch from David Warner. But the job wasn’t done yet. There was still a lot to do.
- Pat Cummins got another one and showed why he is the skipper of this team. He clean bowled Perera. Kusal missed it. It was a straight delivery. The ball wasn’t anything special. It was hard luck from the batter. And this is where Sri Lanka’s miseries started.
- Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc, who were struggling with the ball, suddenly became unplayable. Zampa, in particular, bowled very nicely. He took Mendis’s wicket when Kusal Mendis tried to smack him out of the park. But Warner comes again with his safe pair of hands. This was not an easy catch. He started running after the ball started to move in that direction. What a fielder he is.
- Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, and Glen Maxwell reduced this team to 209. Australia will go out to bat with much more confidence. The Kangaroos are finally in attack mode now.
Second innings – Australia
| AUSTRALIA 215-5 (35.2 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Josh Inglish 58 (59) | Dilshan Madushanka 3-38 |
| Mitchell Marsh 52 (51) | Dunith Wellalage 1-53 |
| Marnus Labuschagne 40 (60) | Maheesh Theekshana 0-49 |
| RESULT | Australia won by 5 wickets with 88 balls remaining |
- The Aussie innings started not that great. Dilshan Madushanka took two early wickets. Smith and Warner went out earlier. However, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh to the rescue.
- Marsh was here with the intent of winning quickly. They want the boost in the NRR if they want to keep their hopes for the semi-finals alive. Marsh and Marnus had a 50-run stand. However, this was broken by Mendis. That runout was pretty intense.
- The good thing is that Josh Inglis finally performed. He hit 58 runs on 59 deliveries. His 77-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne stabilized this chase for the Aussies. Dilshan has been pretty great today. He is one of the only bowlers that showed some resistance. He broke this partnership. But it was too late to mend. Maxwell and Inglis scored 34 runs together, taking Australia closer to the target. Marcus Stoinis finished things in style with a six.
- Australia can finally have a fighting chance in this tournament. Sri Lanka will need some miracle from here to survive.
Man of the match
Adam Zampa won the MOTM. However, he doesn’t look happy. He isn’t satisfied with his performance in the World Cup overall. Zampa looked pretty disappointed at the initial bowling display by him. Cheer up Zampa!