AUS vs SL 4th T20I: PREVIEW

Clinical Australia seals series and will now focus on experimentation with key players rested. Aaron Finch's men bagged yet another series with a crushing 6 wicket win against the Lankans in the 3rd T20I of the 5 match series. 

Put in to bat first, Sri Lanka could only manage 121 at the Manuka Oval which was a yet another poor outing. Opener Gunathalika has been dismissed thrice in single digits whereas Kusal Mendis who is making his comeback in the side, managed only 4 runs from the 11 balls he faced. CSK's new recruit Mahesh Theekshana provided Lankans with a dream start when he dismissed Ben McDermott on the very first delivery. He returned impactful figures of 4-0-24-3. Captain Dasun Shanaka was very modest when he said there are no positives from this game. 
A whitewash of 5-0 looks inevitable for the tourists with the side already rocked by COVID cases. They will be without the services of Binura Fernando and star all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga for the 4th T20I for the very same reason. Nuwan Thushara left the field after bowling only 7 deliveries and is also doubtful. Shiran Fernando or Lahiru Kumara are expected to replace him in the XI. 

Australia on the other hand, have made it very clear they are going try a lot of different combinations and give everyone a fair run before the T20 World Cup. The pace trio of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummings will not take further part in the series to freshen up ahead of the side's departure for Pakistan where they will play a 3 match Test series and 4 T20I. Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson and Daniel Sams are expected to take the responsibility in bowling department wilth Adam Zampa returning after missing out in the 3rd game.
Aaron Finch hinted he may bat at 5 and is planning to give Wade and Stoinis enough game time. He is averaging 27.73 at a strike rate of 121 in his last 20 innings. Series also provides great opportunity for Ben McDermott and Josh Inglis in absence of David Warner and Mitch Marsh.

Pitch Report

Expect a high-scoring encounter with spin getting some assistance at the MCG. Although 72% wickets have been picked by pacers here.

Probable XI

Australia: Ashton Agar, Ben McDermott, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Daniel Sams, Jhye Richardson, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson

Sri Lanka: Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara/Shiran Fernando

Head to Head

Overall: Australia leads 12-8
Last 10 matches: Australia leads 8-2
In Australia: Hosts lead 6-5

Match Ups

Australia
Maxwell vs Theeksana: 13 runs off 10 balls with 2 dismissals
Wade vs Thusara: 13 runs off 4 balls with no dismissals
McDermott vs Chameera: 24 runs off 15 balls with no dismissals

Sri Lanka
Asalanka vs Zampa: 5 runs off 8 balls with 2 dismissals
Gunathilaka vs Hazlewood: 10 runs off 10 balls with 2 dismissals
Shanaka vs Zampa: 16 runs off 20 balls with 2 dismissals
Shanaka vs Kane: 36 runs off 21 balls with no dismissals
Chandimal vs Starc: 26 runs off 13 balls with no dismissals
C Karunaratne vs Hazlewood: 6 runs off 7 balls with 2 dismissals

Trivia

Australia have won 9 out of their last 10 T20Is
Sri Lanka have won only 1 out of their last 7 T20Is
Gunathilaka has 8 dismissals in single digit scores in last 10 T20I innings.
Finch has played only 2 innings with SR 100+ in his last 8 T20I outings.

Key Players

Australia

Ben McDermott: He had a record breaking BBL season with 577 runs – the fourth-highest single season tally in BBL history - at 48.08 average and a strike rate of 153.86, despite missing the first two games of the season. He already made his mark with a 53 on his comeback.

Josh Inglis: His BBL career strike rate of 140 and a 400+ run season for Scorchers in BBL10 are a testimony of the wicketkeeper batsman's potential with the blade. Mitch Marsh has already cemented his place at no. 3 with consistent performances over the last 8 months. Reports are also rife that Australia is looking to give Tim David a chance in the middle.

Adam Zampa: If Sri Lanka want to put up a formidable total then they have to take chances against Zampa in the middle overs. Zampa has taken 30 wkts at an impressive economy rate of 6.99 in last one year and was the majority's choice for their Man of the tournament in T20 World Cup.

Sri Lanka

Maheesh Theekshana: With their star all-rounder Hasranga out, Sri Lanka will be banking on this mystery spinner to repeat his last game's performance.

Pathum Nissanka: SL have not managed to get good starts with Gunathalika getting out cheaply in all 3 games. Nissanka almost saw SL home with his 73 in 2nd T20I but that was just not enough. He also has been fairly criticised for the slow starts in this series. SL's fortunes mainly lie on Nissanka and Asalanka in the batting department. 

Dushmantha Chameera: Bounced back really well after the first T20I and has conceded 6.5 runs per over in the last 2 games. Has bowled well in the middle overs in this series and should look to make a greater impact in terms of picking wickets.

Form Update
(in last 5 T20I innings)

Fantasy XI

Top Captaincy/VC Picks

• Ben McDermott
• Glenn Maxwell
• Pathum Nissanka
• Ashton Agar
• Josh Inglis