ABOUT THE MATCH
World champions Australia is big favourites against out-of-form Sri Lanka for this first WT20i of their three-game series at the North Sydney Oval. The first match gets underway on September 29.
Australia, the world T20 champions, have continued their dominant form in the shortest format since. They beat England in the WT20i leg of their successful Women’s Ashes defence and most recently thrashed West Indies too. Alyssa Healy’s batting and some excellent bowling, particularly from Jess Jonassen, helped them to some dominant victories.
For Sri Lanka, they have played six WT20 internationals since the World Cup and lost them all. Their batting has fallen short and their bowling too – their most recent series, against England, saw them claim just six wickets across the three games.
TOSS PREDICTION
Australia only won the toss once in their three WT20i matches against the West Indies so they are due this one. They fielded first in all three of those wins, so they may elect to continue with that tactic.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
Temperatures will be in the high teens in Sydney on Sunday but, more importantly, there is zero chance of rain forecast and conditions are set to be mostly sunny. There may be a bit of wind around, however.
The North Syndey Oval was criticised for being benign a couple of years ago, which will favour batting over bowling. The groundstaff will be hoping for a bit more life in the wicket after that criticism, however.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Australia Women
Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Erin Burns, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutt
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Sri Lanka Women
Chamari Atapattu, Yashoda Mendis, Hanisma Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Harshitha Madavi, Dilani Manodara, Nilakshi de Silva, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya
MATCH PREVIEW
Australia Women
- Australia has named an unchanged squad for this tour from the one which travelled to the West Indies.
- It could be the same 11 that played the first two games in the Caribbean therefore, which would mean Tayla Vlaeminck, Nicola Carey and Heather Graham having to remain patient for now.
- Vlaeminck did play the final game of the series against the West Indies, but Ashleigh Gardner could return to face Sri Lanka.
- Australia comes into this series on the back of a dominant win against West Indies, having previously beaten England to win the Women’s Ashes once again.
- The latter included a 2-1 victory in the T20i leg of the series, while the whitewashed West Indies 3-0 most recently.
- The final game of the series saw Australia record their biggest win in terms of balls remaining in WT20is they needed just 7.3 overs to score 83/1 in a nine-wicket win at Bridgetown, with Alyssa Healy leading the way with more excellent batting form.
- Jess Jonassen had earlier taken 4-7 from her four overs to set up the win.
Sri Lanka Women
- From their most recent WT20i series in March the 3-0 series defeat to England, Sri Lanka have added Yashoda Mendis, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodhani to their squad.
- Chamari Atapattu will lead the team. Umesha Thimashini and Madushika Methtananda miss out from the team which played their most recent game.
- Sri Lanka has played two bilateral series since the Women’s World T20 and lost them both without winning a game.
- They were beaten 3-0 in South Africa and then suffered the same fate at home to England, with their batting coming up well short on too many occasions.
- The gulf between the Sri Lankans and the other top women’s teams has been too vast.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
Australia is comfortable favourites for this game and they should be able to continue their dominant form against a Sri Lanka team who, in the women’s game, are still very much minnows compared to the top nations.
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