GameDay Squad Cricket match preview: Australia come up against Sri Lanka in the 14th match of the ICC Men’s World Cup in Lucknow on the 16th of October.
Australia played South Africa in their second match of the CWC, and South Africa won by 134 runs. Australia won the toss and elected to field. Australia struggled early with the ball and South Africa made it through 108 in the 20th over before losing their first wicket. Australia continued to struggle in the conditions and found it difficult to put pressure on the South African batsmen. Quinton de Kock made another impressive ODI century as South Africa made it through to 311/7 at the end of the 50 overs. Once again, Australia struggled with the bat early and lost the wicket of Marsh in the 6th with the score at 27. Warner was dismissed the following over and this was to start a steady procession of Australian batsmen heading back to the pavilion. After being 70/6 in the 18th over, we saw some fight from the low order, but South Africa ended up bowling Australia out for 177 in the 41st over.
The top performers in GDS for Australia were.
Mitchell Starc – 113 points
Glenn Maxwell – 88 points
Pat Cummins – 65 points
Josh Hazlewood – 57 points
Adam Zampa – 51 points
Sri Lanka played Pakistan in their second match of the CWC, and Pakistan won by six wickets. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan was off to a great start and took the wicket of Perera in the 2nd over when the score was only at five. With Nissanka and Mendis at the crease for Sri Lanka, things quickly went sideways for Pakistan. These two batsmen hit the Pakistan bowling attack to all parts of the ground before Nissanka was dismissed in the 18th over with the score at 107. Mendis kept the momentum going as Sri Lanka scored the next 111 runs in the next 11.3 overs before Mendis was dismissed for an impressive 122. After Mendis departure, Pakistan started to claw their way back into the contest and ended up restricting Sri Lanka to 344/9 at the end of the 50 overs. Pakistan was off to a wobbly start and found themselves 37/2 in the 8th over. With Shafique and Rizwan at the crease they put on 176 runs for the third wicket before Shafique was dismissed for 113. Rizwan and Shakeel then put on 95 runs for the fourth wicket before Shakeel was dismissed in the 45th over. Pakistan still needed 38 runs to chase down the target and they managed to get there with ten balls to spare.
The top performers in GDS for Sri Lanka were.
Kusal Mendis – 164 points
Sadeera Samarawickrama – 147 points
Pathum Nissanka – 68 points
Dilshan Madushanka – 64 points
Dunith Wellalage – 43 points
Ekana International Stadium and Pitch Information
The pitch at Ekana International Cricket Stadium has a reputation of favoring spin bowlers. The climate of Lucknow frequently leans towards the warmer side and potentially leading to the pitch drying out. If this occurs, the pitch will be even more favorable to the spinners. However, after IPL 2023 the pitches at this stadium were all dug up. Previously there have been only five ODIs at this stadium, with the highest first innings score of 311 runs. Australia played South Africa at this ground in the 10th match of the CWC and we saw that the pitch had something in it for the batsmen and bowlers. In the second innings we saw the ball nip around for the South African seam bowlers. In this match 17 wickets fell, 10 to seam and 7 to spin. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team that wins the toss decides to bat first.
Australia vs Sri Lanka predicted XIs
Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka.
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be David Warner, Steve Smith and Pathum Nissanka. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
David Warner – 59 points
Steve Smith - 41 points
Pathum Nissanka – 40 points
In GDS there are only five players combined from Australia and Sri Lanka that have a batter position designation. Only three of these five players are predicted to play so the selection process for GDS coaches is an easy one for this match.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Charith Asalanka / Mitchell Marsh, Dunith Wellalage, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Charith Asalanka – 68 points
Mitchell Marsh – 38 points
Dunith Wellalage – 69 points
Glenn Maxwell – 62 points
Marcus Stoinis – 53 points
I think picking the starting all-rounders is the hardest part of setting your squad for this match. I tend to favour all-rounders that bowl more as they generally score higher due to dot balls being worth one point in GDS. My top two all-rounders are Wellalage and Maxwell for this match. The reason for their selections is because they seem to be the all-rounders in their respective teams that bowl the most overs. All-rounders like Asalanka and Marsh both favour the batting discipline and have both only bowled one over each in this tournament. Both have been scratchy with the bat, and I’ll be playing one or the other depending on how the toss goes. If Australia bat first, I’ll play Marsh and if Sri Lanka bat first I’ll play Asalanka. Stoinis will be my fourth all-rounder as I think he may have been eased into his last ODI after returning from injury. I’m expecting him to bowl a few more overs than he did against South Africa.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining all-rounders for Australia and Sri Lanka in the following order. Charith Asalanka / Mitchell Marsh and Dhananjaya de Silva.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Dilshan Madushanka / Josh Hazelwood. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Mitchell Starc – 92 points
Pat Cummins – 83 points
Dilshan Madushanka – 66 points
Josh Hazelwood – 76 points
Starc is my first bowler picked for this match. He averages 95 points per match for the CWC so far, but he has had scores of 28 vs India and 27 vs South Africa the bat. He may not be the top Australian bowler going by the bowling stats alone, but he does tend to offer a higher ceiling as he can be very handy with the bat. Cummins has been selected for the same reason as Starc, he offers more upside with the bat. The way the Australian batters have been adapting to the conditions so far this tournament, Starc and Cummins may feature with the bat again in this match. Either Madushanka or Hazelwood will be my third bowler and it all depends on the toss. If Sri Lanka bowl second, I’ll be starting Madushanka and if Australia bowl second, I’ll be starting Hazelwood.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for Australia and Sri Lanka in the following order. Dilshan Madushanka / Josh Hazelwood, Maheesh Theekshana, Adam Zampa and Kasun Rajitha.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Kusal Mendis. Over the last ten matches the wicket keepers from these teams average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Kusal Mendis – 80 points
Kusal Perera – 39 points
Sadeera Samarawickrama – 50 points
Josh Inglis – 22 points
Mendis has been one of the inform keepers for the CWC with scores of 76 vs South Africa and 122 vs Pakistan. He will be behind the stumps for this match and with him being in this sort of destructive form with the bat, he is a must start.
If you don’t have the suggested player in your squad, I have ranked the remaining wicket keepers for Australia and Sri Lanka in the following order. Sadeera Samarawickrama, Josh Inglis and Kusal Perera.