Revitalised Sri Lanka aim to maintain ascendancy against Australia

Overview:

Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Sunday, 27 October; 2:00pm local, 3:30am GMT

The visitors have been further strengthened by the return of their regular skipper Lasith Malinga, who had registered bowling figures of 5/6, including a hat-trick in his last T20I, played against New Zealand at home last month. Senior batsmen Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis too make a return to the squad to add more solidity, alongside promising youngsters like Oshada Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksha.

They might've gone down to Prime Minister's XI by one wicket in the practice game on Thursday, 24 October, but will surely take confidence from their track record against Australia, having won eight of the 13 head-to-head contests. What more, they had trumped the Aaron Finch led side 2-1 in the three-match series, when they last toured Australia in February 2017.

As for Australia, the series marks the beginning of their preparation for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup which is less than a year away now. Skipper Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith make a formidable top three, with Ashton Turner, Alex Carey and Ben McDermott giving them enough firepower in the back end, not to forget the dynamic Glenn Maxwell, whose career-best unbeaten 145, off merely 65 balls, came against the same opposition three years ago.

With Andrew Tye being ruled out due to elbow injury, Kane Richardson is likely to find a spot in the final XI, alongside the experienced duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

Remember the last time:

Skipper Aaron Finch and his then opening partner Michael Klinger scored half-centuries to power Australia to a healthy total of 187/6, before James Faulkner and Adam Zampa bagged three wickets apiece, as Australia emerged victorious by 41 runs when the two sides last met at the Adelaide Oval in the last game of the three-match series in February 2017. This was after Sri Lanka had already sealed the series, having clinched thrilling last-ball wins in each of the previous two games.

What they said:

Steve Smith, Australia batsman: "I think it’s a great opportunity for 14 guys that have been picked here to have that continuity and try to perform together and work towards hopefully being part of a World Cup. It starts here this summer. We’ve got six games straight."

Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka captain:"As a team, we are doing well in the T20 arena. We beat New Zealand in the final T20 game, when they played here last month, and then continued our good work in Pakistan beating them three-nil. We have won four games consecutively and have also moved up in T20 rankings. I believe this is good for the team build-up going forward."

Conditions:

Patchy rain is possible during the second half of the day and with a cloud cover as high as 91% at the start of the game, both captains might just be tempted to bowl first. Teams batting second had won five of the seven games played at the Adelaide Oval during the Big Bash League last year.