ICC World Cup 2019: Warm-up Match 7, Australia vs Sri Lanka, Match Prediction – Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live Streaming Details

After defeating India and Pakistan in the bilateral ODI series, Australia came into the World Cup warm-ups with a positive frame of mind. Moreover, the Aussies also got the better of the Windies in the unofficial warm-ups. Yesterday, the Aaron Finch-captained unit beat tournament favourites England by 12 runs at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Their next match is against Sri Lanka at the same venue.

The Lankans, on the contrary, slumped to an 87-run defeat against South Africa in Cardiff and don’t look in great form. Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews notched half-centuries, but the rest of the team couldn’t back their decent performances. The teams last played an ODI against each other way back in September 2016. Lanka’s last overseas One Day victory against the Aussies came back in June 2013.

Weather Report

There are chances of the downpour the entire day. The temperature will be around 17 degrees Celsius. The humidity won’t be a matter of concern and is expected to be in the 50s. There will be a significant amount of cloud cover.

Pitch Report

Under overcast conditions, the pitch won’t have much for the spinners and the fast bowlers have to shoulder a chunk of the responsibilities. The track is expected to be a decent one for batting. On the same strip, Steve Smith scored a match-winning century.

Playing combinations

Australia

The Aussies may want to test out Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who didn’t get to bowl versus the Brits. Even Glenn Maxwell will wish to get a hit in the middle. David Warner hasn’t quite looked at his brutal best, though he got 43 runs. In the bowling department, while the spinners did reasonably, Coulter-Nile’s form would be a matter of worry. Yesterday, he conceded 61 in his six overs stint.

Squad

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Sri Lanka

The Lankans may rest Avishka Fernando, who twisted his ankle against the Proteas. Isuru Udana also got smacked on his wrist and the management may not want to take a risk of playing him before the main round. Lasith Malinga will also want some game-time. The likes of Kusal Perera, Nuwan Pradeep and Jeffrey Vandersay didn’t have a great outing last time and they will be keen to make amends.

Squad

Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Avishka Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep

Probable Top Performer

David Warner – Australia | Kusal Mendis – Sri Lanka

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports

Online– Hotstar

Match Timings – 15:00 IST; 10:30 local

The prediction is for Australia to win the match.