da bet vitoria： Following a tough English summer, Sri Lanka are grappling with injuries to their fast bowlers as they prepare for the first of three Tests against Australia in Pallekele
da betsul： The Preview by Brydon Coverdale25-Jul-2016Match factsJuly 26-30, 2016
Start time 10.00 local (04.30 GMT)1:27
Brettig: Strong Australia will look to avoid mental mistakes
Big PictureOnce upon a time, Sri Lanka beat Australia in a Test series. Like most fairy tales, it was a little bit gruesome – Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie met grisly fates during Sri Lanka’s win in the first Test – and somewhat miraculous – persistent rain in the second and third Tests ensured draws that gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 victory. In the coming years, their achievement took on even more mythic proportions. Immediately following that series in 1999, Australia won a world-record 16 consecutive Tests. For a good couple of years, Sri Lanka were the last of the giant-killers.Yet the happy ending of that tour was just that – an ending. Never again have Sri Lanka beaten Australia in a Test, let alone a series. They lost 0-3 at home in 2004 despite the presence of champions such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya. In 2011, Sangakkara and Jayawardene were still there and Australia were ripe for plucking; having suffered an Ashes debacle at home, Australia had slipped to fifth on the Test rankings, below the fourth-placed Sri Lanka. But still Australia emerged with a series win.Now, the last of those legends have faded into retirement, and everything seems stacked against Sri Lanka. Australia are back on top of the Test rankings, Sri Lanka have slipped to seventh. Australia have more or less a full-strength squad; Sri Lanka have several bowlers injured. Even Muralitharan, he of 800 Test wickets, has changed camps and is coaching the Australians on this tour. But there is one solitary link back to that 1999 triumph – that was the series in which Rangana Herath made his Test debut, and Sri Lanka’s hopes rest largely on his stocky shoulders this time.Australia are yet to lose a Test under Steven Smith’s captaincy, and he will be desperate to ensure that continues on his first tour of Asia as skipper. He will have his strike weapon Mitchell Starc back after a long injury lay-off, and a twin spin attack likely at his disposal. Smith himself is the No.1-ranked Test batsman in the world and his fit-again vice-captain David Warner is eighth. And that’s without even mentioning the bloke averaging 95.50. If Sri Lanka want another fairy tale, they’ll need a touch of the miraculous once again.Form guideSri Lanka: DLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWDWW
In the spotlightTo overcome Australia, the Sri Lankans may just need something special from a one-man band. Fortunately, they have the Mike Oldfield of cricket. In the past five years, no Test player has accumulated more five-wicket hauls or ten-wicket matches than Rangana Herath. And only one man – Stuart Broad – has equalled him for Man-of-the-Match awards in that time. At home, Herath is an ever-present threat, and no player is more important to Sri Lanka’s chances in this series. There is no Dhammika Prasad, no Dushmantha Chameera, no Shaminda Eranga. But while Herath remains, Sri Lanka can dream.Last time Australia played a Test series in Sri Lanka, Nathan Lyon was as green as the Adelaide Oval outfield, on which he had not long finished working as a groundsman. He began the tour with five first-class matches to his name and was thrust in at Galle as the latest in a long line of spinners tried since Shane Warne’s retirement four years earlier. It would be Lyon who would finally end the spin cycle, signalled by his taking Sangakkara’s wicket with the first ball of his career. He returns as Australia’s most successful Test offspinner of all time, with 195 wickets to his name. Almost certainly on this trip he will become the 16th Australian to the milestone of 200 Test wickets.Team newsBy naming a squad of 15, Sri Lanka have given themselves plenty of options. A debut for either Dhananjaya de Silva or Roshen Silva seems likely, while the make-up of the attack needs to be determined with so many bowlers unavailable due to injury. Suranga Lakmal is doubtful due to hamstring tightness, which could mean a debut for Vishwa Fernando.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Vishwa Fernando, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.Australia’s XI has been confirmed, with the only question-mark in the lead-up having been whether they would opt for two spinners. Steve O’Keefe’s work in the warm-up match – he took 10 wickets and scored an unbeaten 78 – extinguished any doubts, and on match eve Smith announced that O’Keefe would be part of the XI.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Steve O’Keefe, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Pitch and conditionsA couple of days out, the Pallekele pitch had a slight covering of grass but that was expected to be shaved off before the Test. It is expected to spin as the match wears on, though perhaps not so much as as it does in Galle.Stats and trivia The all-time head-to-head record between these two teams is 26 Tests played, 17 wins to Australia, eight draws, and just a single victory for Sri Lanka Across all formats this year, Sri Lanka have won just a single game against Test-playing opposition: a T20 against India back in February Australia would need to win at least 2-0 to ensure they do not drop any points on the Test rankings tableQuotes”I have trust in all 11 players, but unfortunately our top bowlers are unavailable. But we can’t refuse to play the game because of that. We hope the players who do play can do the job. We’ll have to play very well to beat the No.1 team.”
“The challenge for us is batting long periods of time. We know that’s what wins games in these conditions.”
