Sri lanka vs Australia 1st T20

Match facts



August 6, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Start time 19:00 (13:30 GMT, 23:30 EST)




Big Picture



Australia commence their tour of Sri Lanka under a captain, Cameron
White, who will be flying home once the Twenty20 matches have concluded.
Sri Lanka, by contrast will be led in all three formats by Tillakaratne
Dilshan, leading the team at home for the first time after taking over
the reins for the England tour earlier this year.



Until a narrow victory over England in the second of two T20 matches
following the Ashes, Australia's form in the shortest format had been
poor, losing comfortably to the Sri Lankans in Perth last October and
suffering a 2-0 series reverse against Pakistan in England during the
2010 northern summer. Michael Clarke's retirement from international T20
matches handed the captaincy to White, and he will now be hoping to get
the tourists off to a strong start in Kandy.



The Sri Lankans have done rather better of late, defeating England in
England, but that was their first T20 international since the
aforementioned defeat of Australia at the WACA. Lasith Malinga's
unavailability is a significant loss for the hosts, particularly as the
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and its new pitches have the
potential for greater pace than most other surfaces on the island.



Both sides will want to set the tone for the tour with a first-up
victory, as much to build confidence in their transitional teams as to
get their opponents worried.




Form guide



Sri Lanka WWWLL
Australia WLLLL




In the spotlight



Angelo Mathews missed the Test series against Engalnd due to
injury but eased his way back into some form during the subsequent
limited overs matches to demonstrate why he was entrusted with the
vice-captaincy before his 24th birthday. Explosive with the bat and
intelligent with the ball, he played a key role in lifting the Sri
Lankans to a memorable ODI victory over Australia at the MCG last year
and will want to repeat the dose on home soil.



Steve O'Keefe, like his captain White, is only in Sri Lanka for
the T20 matches, and is intent on showing that he should have been
allowed to stay on. Peculiarly, his first-class bowling record is far
better than any of his spin bowling rivals in Australia, but thus far
the national selectors have declined to employ him further. O'Keefe has
made no secret of his desire to push for bigger honours, and he can make
a start by performing capably here to back-up the 3-29 he took on his
T20 debut for Australia against Pakistan in 2010.




Team news



Sri Lanka's squad includes no fewer than six capable bowlers of spin,
while the pace attack looks thin without Malinga, meaning Mathews or
Nuwan Kulasekara can be expected to operate with the new ball. Aaron
Finch is expected to be available having recovered from a rolled ankle
suffered in training, and James Pattinson could be in line for a T20
debut.



Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Mahela Jayawardene, 2 Tillakaratne
Dilshan (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Chamara Silva, 6
Jeevan Mendis, 7 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan
Kulasekara, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Suranga Lakmal



Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Brad
Haddin (wk), 4 David Hussey, 5 Cameron White (capt), 6 Shaun Marsh, 7
Steven Smith, 8 Steve O'Keefe, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Brett Lee, 11
James Pattinson




Pitch and conditions



The Australians have been delighted by a hint of pace in the Kandy
practice wickets and are hopeful for more of the same from the match
strip. The Sri Lankans have trained in the evening to prepare for any
moisture that may be present for a 7pm start.




Stats and trivia

• This is Australia's first T20 international in Sri Lanka
  
• It is also the first such fixture at the Pallekelle International Stadium
  
• Sri Lanka's captain Dilshan is the oldest man on either side
  at 34, shading the Australian fast bowler Brett Lee by a little more
  than a month
  
• Dilshan will be looking for a greater share of his team's runs, having made a meagre 23 in the five ODIs against England
  

Quotes



"Australian usually play very hard. They may be a bit inexperienced. But they are tough opponents."



Tillakaratne Dilshan is not underestimating the Australians



"Definitely I think the way a series should be run, or a tour should be
run, is that you start with your Twenty20s, then your one-dayers and
then your Test matches."



Brett Lee says the tourists are happy with their Sri Lanka program





Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

i thInk Sri lanka FAVOURITE ..bt PAce attack ;looks slightly weak

gud work shailesh

thanx bt it is all ctrl+C ctrl+v

srilanka will rock

shailesh.acharya wrote:thanx bt it is all ctrl+C ctrl+v

LMAO

ROFL CTRL+C AND CTRL+V

ha ha lol shailesh ctrl+c and ctrl+v
:lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita: :lolita:

DIlshan Smacked the ball yesterday really it was Enjoying Innings

yaa 53 balls 104 5 sixes at an strie rate of 180+ awesome

Dilli roxk the day

and ROFLAMO

and DIllu will alsoo rock today for DOMINATORS TOOOOOOOOOOo


GOOOOOOOOOOOO DILSHAN GOOOOOOOO DOMINATORS GOOOOOOOO

ok ,sai all da best for u