Good afternoon and welcome to The Roar‘s coverage of Match 32 of the 2015 Cricket World Cup featuring Sri Lanka up against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. You can follow the live scores and coverage from 2:30pm (AEDT) and leave your comments below.
As the tournament enters its fourth week, you’d be forgiven for losing interest. But fear not! Today we have a match on hands.
The stakes are high for both teams as they look toward the quarter finals. With the unbeaten NZ all but securing first position in Pool A, Sri Lanka and Australia are left to jostle for second position – and what a desirable position it is.
Why? The team that wins today looks set to avoid a quarterfinal against tournament heavyweights South Africa.
But which team will that be?
It’s difficult to assess where Australia stands after their narrow loss to NZ, their abandoned match against Bangladesh and their demolition of Afghanistan. With Clarke failing to bat against Afghanistan, it’s even more difficult to assess the Australian Captain’s personal form.
While Australia’s top order stood tall against Afghanistan, they capitulated against the swing and pace of NZ’s bowlers. Too often, the likes of Haddin are being asked to bail out Australia’s opening and middle order.
This is in stark contrast to Sri Lanka, whose opening batsmen have stood tall since their loss to NZ in their opening match. Kumar Sangakkara, the form batsman of the World Cup, is in superb touch, proving age is no barrier at 37.
He has been supported well by Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne and Mahela Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan batsmen aren’t as flashy as David Warner or Glen Maxwell, but they continue to hold their nerve and get the job done.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers, however, have not been as strong, particularly in the absence of Dimuth Karunaratne and now Rangana Herath who must undergo surgery on a broken finger. And this may prove to be the difference today if Australia’s batsmen can capitalise on the fresh faces in Sri Lanka’s starting XI.
And there may be a few fresh faces for both teams. The dry SCG pitch will suit spin bowlers. If Australia are to opt for spin, Josh Hazlewood looks to be the likely omission.
Sri Lanka’s record at the SCG is impressive – in their past eight matches at the ground, they have lost only twice. But then again, Sri Lanka’s recent record against Australia leaves much to be desired: their last World Cup win against Australia was in 1996.
With both teams looking to secure second position in Pool A, this game is set to be a cracker. Sri Lanka’s batsmen will make runs today – that is a given. What is unknown is whether Australia’s batsmen will turn up like they did against Afghanistan or collapse like they did against NZ.
This may be a day for the bowlers and it remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka have the depth in their bowling attack to cause the same Australian capitulation that Southee, Boult and Milne did at Eden Park.
Prediction: Australia. Just.
Patrick Effeney
Editor
Nice work Sarah. Well done.
Prosenjit majumdar
Guest
It was his last world cup match anyway, and aussie team management should be polite to him by handing him the job of carrying gloves,drinks for teammates.and ofcourse clarke is a better left arm spinner.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Lets see.. Slow left arm orthodox against two left handers who are known to be great players of spin and just belted a top 10 ranked quick out of the attack. He would've gone for far fewer runs and had a wicket of Clarke had held onto the catch too. Dohery deserved his place, rubbish efforts in the field just didn't back him up at all.
Sarah Olle
Expert
Correct! I was burning the midnight oil when writing this. Thanks Maggie.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Just tongue in cheek Bobbo haha Yep, see you in the final ;)
Prosenjit majumdar
Guest
Xavier doherty clearly didn't deserve a place in the australia squad.they should have taken lyon.
Maggie
Guest
Thanks Sarah for an excellent call of the match. One correction: Dilshan hit six 4s in a row off Johnson, not six 6s. The SCG would have been ablaze if it had been six 6s, not just alight!
Sarah Olle
Expert
MATCH WRAP UP As predicted, this was a game that captivated us from start to finish. Australia won the toss and elected to bat, but to Sri Lanka's credit they dismissed Australia's opening pair, Warner and Finch, cheaply. Smith and Clarke steadied the Australian innings, providing the base for their massive total of 376 runs. Their third wicket partnership held Maxwell and Watson in good stead. The former of whom broke through for his maiden ODI in just 53 balls, the latter of whom redeemed himself with a knock of 67 after being dropped for the game against Afghanistan. Australia made 117 runs off the last 15 overs, which meant that Sri Lanka's batsmen were asked to chase down a huge 377. We knew that this wasn't out of reach for the Sri Lankans - their batting prowess runs so deep. As Mathews said after the game, Sangakkara is just getting better and better with age - today he notched up his third century in as many innings, the first man ever to achieve such a feat in a World Cup. He was supported well by Dilshan, who hit six 6s in a row off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson to set the SCG alight. Both teams batted beautifully: Man of the Match Glen Maxwell with his theatrical quick-fire century and Sangakkara with his classy ton which took him past 4000 ODI runs. The difference today - and it was small - was in the bowling stocks. Malinga was the only Sri Lankan bowler to look dangerous and, in the absence of Herath, too much responsibility fell on his shoulders. Mitchell Starc proved once again why he is considered one of the best death bowlers in the world. His two late wickets secured victory for Australia - his economy rate of 3.48 the best by far. Faulkner (3-48) and Johnson (2-62) provided good support, too. When Chandimal retired hurt on 52, the run chase became too much of a task for Sri Lanka's lower order and they fell short by 64 runs. With this win, Australia will finish second in Pool A and avoid a likely quarterfinal against South Africa. Thanks for tuning in!
Bobbo7
Guest
Very funny. Good win for NZ today. Taylor and a Elliot got a bit of batting in...will see the Aussies in the final... Although SL's batting is starting to look ominous.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Great game,without the Lankan injury things would have been interesting. Doherty has played himself onto the bench, Watto,selectors fav in for ever,Johnson has to learn to bowl the occasional Yorker and not sledge someone who has hit you for six consecutive boundaries. Good call Sarah.
Avon River
Guest
Good win and the luxury of G.Maxwell pays off in spades.
Existentialist
Guest
Thanks Sarah! Fair to say an all-round team performance?!
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
The losing teams now score 300+ Just wow...
TheTruth
Guest
Cheers Sarah
Sarah Olle
Expert
FINAL RESULT - AUSTRALIA BEATS SRI LANKA BY 64 RUNS
Sarah Olle
Expert
WICKET - Starc gets the final wicket of the day. A fitting result for the most economic of all the bowlers. What a cracker of a game! Australia beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs.
Sarah Olle
Expert
FOUR - Starc comes in to bowl and Senanayake gets and edge which goes to the boundary.
Sarah Olle
Expert
46 overs gone, Sri Lanka are 308-8. Sri Lanka needs 69 runs of 24 balls for victory. An unlikely scenario after so many wickets.
jamesb
Guest
Looks like Australia is not making a trip to NZ now.
Sarah Olle
Expert
WICKET - Warner takes an easy catch in the deep and Tharanga is gone for 4. Australia can sense victory now. Malinga will come in to bat for Sri Lanka.