Australia tour of Sri Lanka: 1st test match overview, ground, stats, prediction, and many more
Australia tour of Sri Lanka, Australia is hurt, and Sri Lanka wants to hurt them even more in the first game of a two-Test series, which starts on Wednesday at what looks like a spinning wicket in Galle. Last week, Sri Lanka shocked everyone by winning the One-Day International Series with a score of 3-2. The hosts will rely on a bowling attack full of spinners to give them the edge in the Test. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne will be in charge of a team that now includes Lasith Embuldeniya, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Ramesh Mendis. In addition, Jeffrey Vandersay has been added to the team to make it stronger.
In 2016, Sri Lanka swept Australia in a three-Test series, but Karunaratne warned that this time, the visitors would come to play with extensive preparations. The hosts won the 50-over series by throwing more than 40 spin overs in the fourth ODI. This showed Australian batters what they could expect in the longer format.
At the last ODI in Colombo last week, many Sri Lankan fans wore Australia’s yellow shirts and held up signs thanking the tourists for coming to Sri Lanka and supporting their tourism economy. Lately, the country has been in talks over the immense economic crisis. However, Sri Lanka’s Test cricketers are feeling good after winning a 1-0 series in Bangladesh last month. So a win over Australia would be a welcome boost for the island nation, thereby bringing relief in the middle of a terrible economic crisis.
Australia tour Of Sri Lanka Predictions
Australia’s best spinner, Nathan Lyon, who took 16 wickets in 2016 compared to home hero Rangana Herath’s 28 wickets, said he thought the wicket would start to turn on the first day. Lyon will likely be paired with Mitchell Swepson, who bowls leg spin, to build a strong bowling attack against the Aussies. Travis Head is trying to get over a hamstring injury he got in the ODIs. If he can’t, Glenn Maxwell, a powerful all-around batsman who can play out of rotation, could be called back. Maxwell, who recently married Indian Vini Raman, has often been a star for the white ball team, but he has only played in seven Tests since his debut in 2013. The last we saw him in the test squad was in Bangladesh almost five years ago. Ashton Agar, a left-arm spinner, is still a question mark, but Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith are both expected to be good to go for the first game.
Australia, led by Pat Cummins, will go into Galle with confidence as they try to get back at Sri Lanka for beating them in 2016. They won a three-Test series in Pakistan this year by a score of 1-0. Khawaja, the left-handed batter hailing from Islamabad, had the most runs in the series in Pakistan with 496, including two centuries.
Players in the teams for the first match
Here are the players of the respective teams for the 1st Test between Sri Lanka and Australia, which will be held in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Jeffrey Vandersay
Australia: Pat Cummins (C), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, and David Warner.
We can’t wait to see which team makes magic on the fields and which team brings sad faces back to the team room. Who are you supporting?