ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 20: SL vs AUS – Australia Predicted Playing XI

While the loss against India would have hurt, Australia might feel content after the fine win against Pakistan. They had to fight hard for this victory, in a game that was an absolute humdinger. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz threatened to take the game away from the Aussies but Mitchell Starc prevented them from doing so and made a memorable win possible.

Australia, who now have three wins in four games, will be facing Sri Lanka in their next encounter. Clearly, they go into this match as the favourites and will hope to bag their fourth win in the tournament. While their playing eleven looks mostly settled, there are a few concerns with the middle order and the bowling attack. A few changes to the batting order are possible and they might look to make some changes to the bowling line-up as well.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Australia:

Openers (David Warner, Aaron Finch (c))

It didn’t take too long for David Warner to get to the triple figures after his return into the Australia set-up. His knock in the last game would have been really satisfying for the former Australian vice-captain. Especially after the criticism he received for his slow knock against India, this was the best way to answer his critics. Warner had maintained a great deal of consistency in the IPL 2019 as well and will look to do the same in this tournament.

Aaron Finch has played the perfect partner to Warner. These two have complemented each other really well and it is the skipper who has taken the attack to the bowlers early on. Finch got to 82 in the last game but missed out on a well-deserved hundred. He has got past fifty a couple of times already in the tournament and will want to convert it into a big score soon.

Middle Order (Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk))

Steve Smith suffered a rare failure in the last match and will want to make up for it this time around. Picking the batting order has been a massive headache for Australia. They can’t bat Steve Smith lower than the number four position and one down is the best possible place where he can bat.

However, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja also prefer this position. Australia is likely to bat Khawaja at four and Marsh at five. But depending upon the situation of the game, they might even promote Glenn Maxwell up the order. The team can also fancy batting Alex Carey higher up in the batting. If the situation permits, he can walk out to bat ahead of Maxwell. Carey has shown that he can build an innings as well as attack at the same time. He has been good behind the stumps in his primary role.

All-Rounders (Glenn Maxwell)

There isn’t any update on the fitness of Marcus Stoinis as yet. Thus, Shaun Marsh will continue in the eleven and Glenn Maxwell will be the only all-rounder in the team. He has been batting aggressively and scored 20 runs off just 10 balls against Pakistan. But it is important for the 30-year-old to stick around a bit longer and play with more responsibility. He was slightly expensive with the ball in the last game.

Bowlers (Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa)

Given the kind of depth that he adds to the batting line-up, Nathan Coulter-Nile might continue to feature in the playing eleven. He finally got amongst the wickets in the last match and bowled economically. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will be the two other pacers in this side. Cummins have been excellent in the tournament thus far.

He picked up 6 wickets in the last three games including a three-wicket haul against Pakistan. He will test the Sri Lankan openers early on with tight lines and lengths. Starc has also performed really well and will be critical in this bowling attack. Instead of Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa might get to play in this match keeping the nature of the pitch in mind.