After one of their most emphatic victories in quite some time, Australia have the chance to land a series win on Friday when they take on Sri Lanka in the second match of their Test series in the capital Canberra.
Sri Lanka were pretty dreadful in that opening match and need to offer some bouncebackability if they are going to level the series and depart without being beaten. That would seem unlikely based on what we saw in Brisbane.
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Australia
It was a perfect performance in the opening match for Australia. They were on top right from the first morning, or afternoon as it actually was given it was a day-night match, and never once relinquished their advantage. It was the sort of match they needed after the loss to India previously and could do with another such victory here to take into The Ashes with them.
The concern for Australia though will be that the win is only papering over the cracks. All too often their batting line up has been exposed and it might be that the worst thing that can happen to them is batsmen finding form here, only to be found out when the better opposition come along once again. That said, there is no substitute for winning at any stage.
Sri Lanka
If it could go wrong for Sri Lanka in that opening Test it did do and that was a disappointment after they fought so hard in New Zealand over Christmas and the New Year. In truth, they never looked comfortable at Brisbane and so it will need a massive rise in their performance level for them just to be competitive here, never mind think about actually winning the match.
The big problem for the touring side is they don’t have the bowlers to exploit these conditions and their batsmen are not comfortable against the bouncing ball so they are going to struggle. That said, they put up a good fight against New Zealand, so if they can pull themselves together they might offer something more at the very least.
Team News
Australia have named an unchanged side which probably isn’t a surprise to anyone. Marcus Stoinis was called into the squad but he has been released again so the home side will keep with the same starting XI.
Sri Lanka could be forced into a change to their side for this match. Suranga Lakmal is a doubt and could miss the match which would bring Chamika Karunaratne into contention. Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando are already expected to come in.
Manuka Oval
This will be the first time Test cricket has been held at this ground. It has held ODI matches and Big Bash League games but never a five day match so it will be interesting to see how the pitch holds up, if indeed Sri Lanka can keep it going that long.
You would expect the wicket to be full of pace and bounce and probably a fair bit of grass to begin with to aide the Australian quicks and trouble the Sri Lanka batsmen but time will tell in that regard. In those ODIs and T20 matches it has generally been a good batting track.
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Betting
Pat Cummins had an exceptional first match of the series and I’m expecting him to be fairly dominant in this second one too so although his performance line looks high at 132.5 I think he can still cover it. He didn’t register a single run in Brisbane and still made up 200 points so there is plenty of potential for him here.
Against India he was scoring runs for fun so I’m expecting him to contribute to the level that six wickets are likely to be enough. He took them in one innings in Brisbane and looks to be bowling as well as he ever has done in fairness. With that in mind, I’m happy to take the over with the margin for wiggle room pretty high here.
Tips
Back P.Cummins’ Performance – Over 132.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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