Deadline: October 24, 2019 at 1:40 PM IST
Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra
Pitch report
In the only T20I played at the venue, Australia Women skittled out New Zealand Women for a mere 105 runs and then chased the target with 7.3 overs remaining. Although the pitch was tailor-made for the pacers, Sophie Molineux got the ball to turn and ended with bowling figures of 3 for 11. Given Australia’s weakness, Sri Lanka will try to hunt them down with spin.
Players to watch out for
Chris Lynn hasn’t played cricket for over 2 months now. The last he played was in the 2019 Global T20 Canada; he had high scores of 89 and 74. Before that, in the 2019 IPL, he had smashed 405 runs with a strike rate of 139.6 including four half-centuries. He’d be itching to score runs and make his way back to the international team.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the highest wicket-taker in the T20I series in Pakistan, eventually winning the Player of the Series award. His leg-breaks were a delight to watch.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa had a memorable debut, having scored the most runs in the series. What impressive was that his 112 runs came at a strike rate of 143.5.
Chris Green was impressive with his off-spinners in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2019. He took 13 wickets, maintaining an economy of 6.4.
Daniel Christian has been honing his batting skills of late, having blasted 183 runs at 36.6 in the 2019 Vitality Blast. With the ball, he managed 8 wickets including a three-wicket haul.
With Lasith Malinga back, Danushka Gunathilaka won’t be calling the shots anymore. In the absence of 10 mainstay players, he helped Sri Lanka whitewash the No. 1 T20I team in their own den. Nonetheless, he will focus on scoring runs at crucial junctures – the way he did in Pakistan.
Ben Cutting will be the player to watch out for from the home team. In 130 T20s, the all-rounder has scored 1,676 runs and scalped 104 wickets.
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
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Wicketkeeper: Kusal Perera
Batsmen: Chris Lynn, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Avishka Fernando
All-rounders: Danushka Gunathilaka, Chris Green, Ben Cutting
Bowlers: Lasith Malinga, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fawad Ahmed
Match prediction
Sri Lanka will be allowed to use as many players as they can in the practice match. To put things into perspective, the result of the match would not matter. The focus will be to get match practice and narrow down the playing XI for the first match on Sunday.
Squads
Prime Minister’s XI: Chris Lynn, Jason Sangha, Jordan Silk, Daniel Leerdam, Daniel Christian (c), Ben Cutting, Chris Green, Harry Nielsen, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed, Daniel Fallins, Djali Bloomfield
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dasun Shanaka, Shehan Jayasuriya, Isuru Udana, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Lasith Malinga (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara
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