Key events
Not out (Australia lose a review)
Never mind all those other reasons that review was on shaky ground, Nissanka hit it.
Australia review the first ball!
It’s classic Starc, fast and full and swinging into the right-handed Nissanka from over the wicket. The batter is almost knocked off his feet as the ball arcs towards the big toe on his left foot. It’s given not out on-field. Starc is adamant despite question marks over whether the ball pitched in line, hit pad first, or was angling down the legside. Apart from that…
Ok, time for some cricket. Mitchell Starc (with yellow compression sleeves today thankfully) has the new white ball. Pathum Nissanka is on strike.
The umpires today are Englishman Alex Wharf and New Zealander Chris Gaffaney.
Incidentally, Wharf is a Bradford-born former County pro. I reckon he must have played alongside Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood at some point in his pre-umpiring career. Can anyone out there confirm?
Anthem time in Lucknow. As is customary, Sri Lanka Matha takes quite a while, and contains plenty of false peaks for the uninitiated. Advance Australia Fair provokes a bloke in the crowd in a vintage Port Adelaide Power singlet to place his cap against his heart.
Meanwhile, many many miles away…
Conditions in Lucknow are hot, but it is cloudier and hazier than last week, which may provide less oppressive playing conditions.
Geoff Lemon was in Lucknow for Australia’s horror show against South Africa.
Even a sputtering Australian side should – let’s stress, should – do the job against Netherlands, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. That would mean they need three wins out of four against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England and New Zealand. It’s not mission impossible. But it’s going to need something, some sort of spark that can get this team enjoying the challenge instead of being daunted by it.
When Australia and South Africa played on this square (one strip across) a few days ago nobody had any idea what it would do. It took Australia 30 or so overs to realise that when bowling first it benefited pace being take off the ball. This, of course, is not what Australia wanted to find out.
Later on, expect dew to fall and the ball to skid on.
Sri Lanka XI
Captain Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out of the rest of the world cup after sustaining a quadriceps tear against Pakistan. Chamika Karunaratne takes his place in the XI while Kusal Mendis will set the field. And he’s in rare form after battering 122 off 77 balls against Pakistan, then 76 off 42 vs South Africa.
There’s one other change too with Lahiru Kumara a like-for-like replacement in the seam attack for the injured Matheesha Pathirana. And that attack has not fared so well this tournament, but after winning the toss on this surface against a skittish Australian line-up, they have conditions in their favour to play themselves into form.
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Dilshan Madushanka, 11 Lahiru Kumara.
Australia XI
Australia go in unchanged, which means Josh Inglis retains the gloves and Marcus Stoinis’s hamstring is fit enough to back up for a second match in quick succession. All eyes on Adam Zampa with Australia’s only frontline spinner underwhelming so far this tournament, with his travails putting the spotlight on selectors.
Captain Cummins, who is playing – despite Michael Clarke’s hearsay, did a bad job of convincing anyone he was fine with losing the toss. At least his bowlers know from the off the requirement to drag their lengths back and vary their paces.
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka win the toss and will bat first
If Australia’s match against South Africa is any indication, that is a massive toss to win for Sri Lanka. They should get the better of both the batting and bowling conditions.
While our focus today is on Australia and Sri Lanka, we cannot go any further without reference to yesterday’s incredible upset when defending champions England were thoroughly outplayed by Afghanistan.
It is the kind of result that reminds us of the purpose of these tournaments and a signal to cricket’s administrators that associate and affiliate nations require investment for the long-term health of the sport.
Speaking of the current Australian skipper, one of his predecessors, Michael Clarke has been quoted today as saying: “heard last night that Pat Cummins is not going to be selected for this game.” Hmmmm.
It reminds me of this quote from Ray Hadley following Clarke’s contretemps with Karl Stefanovic in Noosa.
If I were to give advice to a 41-year-old male adult, who I don’t know … it would be along the lines of keep it in your pants, son.
“Every game now becomes almost like a final,” observed Pat Cummins in his prematch press conference.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live OBO coverage of match 14 of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Australia v Sri Lanka will get under way in Lucknow at 2pm local time (7.30pm AEDT/9.30am BST).
We’ve barely scratched the surface of this tournament but it already feels like Australia – five time world cup winners, reigning ICC Test world champions, and all-round cricketing behemoths – are in must win territory.
They begin their third match rock bottom of the ten team group and realistically in a dogfight for the fourth qualification spot while India, New Zealand, and South Africa stretch their legs above them.
It has been a disastrous start to the tournament with consecutive defeats to India and South Africa seeing Australia outperformed in every facet of the game. Perhaps of greatest concern with regards a barometer of form, the fielding performance against the Proteas was as poor as you are ever likely to see from an Australian representative cricket team.
What’s more, the make-up of the squad leaves little room to manoeuvre. Selectors have backed pace as Australia’s point of difference, but surfaces in Chennai and Lucknow have favoured spin and slower-ball variations. The underperforming Alex Carey and Cameron Green have already been dropped, while carrying the injured Travis Head into the competition has gone from an exercise in forward planning to one of hubris.
Victory over Sri Lanka is now all but essential, and it doesn’t matter how. Getting over the line will suffice to provide some much needed breathing room before a massive clash against Pakistan on Friday.
Sri Lanka are in a similar boat having lost their opening two matches. However, it did require a World Cup record chase from Pakistan to down them in their opening encounter, and they managed a gallant 326 in pursuit of South Africa’s unimaginable 428, so there remains no shortage of optimism in Chris Silverwood’s camp.
I will be on deck for the first innings, then handing over to Adam Collins for the denoument. If you’d like to get in touch while I’m on, please fire all communication to [email protected].
