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4th ODI Predictions: Australia vs Sri Lanka
The 4th ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka will take place on Tuesday, 21st June.
The venue will be the Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
What happened in the last match
Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the third ODI by 6 wickets and took a 2-1 lead in the 5 match ODI series.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.
David Warner fell cheaply but Aaron Finch played a vital knock of 62 in 85 balls.
The top middle order faltered.
However, the lower middle order bounced back to take Australia to a strong total of 291 for 6 in 50 overs.
Alex Carey hit 49 runs and Glenn Maxwell pitched in with 33.
Travis Head was the batting hero for the Aussies with his 70 not out off 65 balls.
For Sri Lanka, Jeffrey Vandersay picked up 3 wickets for 49 runs.
In reply, openers Niroshan Dickwella and Pathum Nissanka added 42 for the first wicket before Dickwella fell to Glenn Maxwell.
Kusal Mendis and Nissanka joined hands to carve out a 170 run partnership that put Sri Lanka in total command.
Mendis made 87 off 85 balls before he retired.
Nissanka carried on and ended up with 137 off 147 balls, before departing in the 48th over when just 8 runs were required.
Charith Asalanka hit the winning runs as Sri Lanka beat Australia with 6 wickets in hand.
Pitch Report
The Premadasa pitch is usually spin friendly and offers help to bowlers.
Run-scoring can be a challenge.
The average total on this ground is around 240.
In the previous ODI that was also played on this ground, the most impressive bowler was spinner Jeffrey Vandersay.
The past records of teams chasing a total and setting a total are almost equally balanced.
So the toss won’t be a deciding factor.
Sri Lanka vs Australia head-to-head
Australia and Lanka have played of 101 ODI matches so far.
The Aussies have won 62 games while the former have come out winners on 35 occasions.
However, Sri Lanka have not defeated Australia in an ODI bilateral series since 2010.
Team News
The Aussies might risk playing Mitchell Starc in a bid to rescue the series, despite him having barely recovered from a finger injury.
Alternatively, Pat Cummins could also feature though playing him is a calculated gamble, owing to his importance in the upcoming Test series.
Mathew Kuhnemann was unimpressive going for 61 runs in 10 overs and might make way for leg-spin-bowler Mitchell Swepson.
Probable playing XI
Sri Lanka
Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage
Australia
David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc/Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood
Best batter of the match
Kusal Mendis is in sizzling form having scored two unbeaten fifties and a total of 209 with a strike rate of 98.12 in the three matches.
His knock of 87 off 85 balls helped Sri Lanka go 2-1 in the series.
He is expected to play a big role with the bat again.
Best bowler of the match:
Josh Hazlewood is the second-ranked ODI bowler in the world.
Till now, he has picked up two wickets with an economy rate of just above five runs per over.
However, he is a proven performer who steps up in crunch games.
Who will win
The Aussie batting line up is much stronger than the Lankans.
They would have also done their homework against the Sri Lankan spinners and will be well prepared.
Our prediction is that Australia will win.