The first match of the three game T20 series between Australia and Sri Lanka takes place in Melbourne on Friday and both sides head into the opener knowing the winners will go one up with two to play and be in control of the series while the loser will be under pressure immediately.
Australia
We know this isn’t necessarily that important in the grand scheme of things for Australia. They wouldn’t have arranged a series for a time when their major stars were in India if it was important but professional cricketers never want to lose and a second string Australia will have players looking to stake a claim for any spots which come available in the main side in the future.
This Australia side might have an issue with their batting order. There are a lot of top order players in the squad but a lack of middle order players and finishers which is interesting. The strength of the bowling attack looks strong on paper but contains players with things to prove at this level.
Sri Lanka
We know Sri Lanka will be buoyed by their series win in South Africa recently and they showed they mean business when they won a warm up match against a Prime Minister’s side which didn’t look too much weaker than the Australia team which will take the field in this opening game of the series.
If Sri Lanka are to come out on top in this match their bowlers will need to go well and get stuck in early. It looks like the tourists have the firepower on these tracks with the bat to get the job done but that will become even more the case should the bowlers restrict Australia to manageable totals regularly.
Team News
There is to be a strong Perth Scorchers feel to the Australia side for this match with Michael Klinger, Ashton Turner and Andrew Tye all expected to play and Jyhe Richardson could feature too.
Lasith Malinga returns to international cricket for Sri Lanka in this match and he will provide the side with a real boost. There is no Dinesh Chandimal for this series but players like Milinda Siriwardana and Seekhuge Prasanna are involved.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in the opening match of the series until we know a) how Australia line up and b) how they react to being at this level but I do have a feeling for Sri Lanka over the next week and I will act on that.
A major trend of Australia’s cricket over the last year or two has been their inability to play spin well with the bat and I think Sri Lanka’s spinners will enjoy conditions here enough to get them in a hole. When you then throw in four overs of Lasith Malinga and a batting line up who should relish these conditions there is no doubt Sri Lanka are overpriced.
11/4 is just too big on the tourists and that will act as my only bet on what should be an entertaining beginning to the series.
Tips
WON – Back Sri Lanka to win 1st T20 for a 3/10 stake at 3.75 with Winner Sports
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