Mixed fortunes for injured Sri Lankans

Sri Lanka have been dealt some mixed news on the injury front as they aim to level the series in tomorrow's second One-Day International at R. Premadasa Stadium.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal has been cleared to play after a short ball from Moises Henriques crashed into his ribcage during the unbeaten knock of 80 that propelled the hosts to a competitive total of 8-227 in Sunday's series opener.

However, the fast-bowling curse has struck once again with Nuwan Pradeep ruled out of the clash starting at 7pm AEST Wednesday night.

Pradeep, 29, claimed two wickets in the opening Test against Australia late last month, but played no further part in the series sweep after suffering a hamstring strain in the lead-up to the second Test in Galle.

The Sri Lanka seamer had appeared set for a return to action for Sunday's series opener in Colombo, but again succumbed to a hamstring complaint just minutes prior to the toss.

Quick Single: Travis tweaks his Test ambitions

Batting allrounder Angelo Perera has been called up to the 16-man squad following solid performances for Sri Lanka A on their recent tour of England.

"It's obviously a big blow to us," Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford said of Pradeep's absence. "He's an important part of the side and he's done really well in the past.

"At the moment he's struggling with a hamstring injury and struggled for a little while, so he's out for the time being."

Meanwhile, Australia welcomed some more fresh faces to training as paceman Scott Boland and allrounder John Hastings joined the squad for today's session.

The Victorian duo arrived early in Sri Lanka ahead of the two Twenty20 internationals to follow the five-match ODI campaign, with the final squad for those matches yet to be revealed.

Boland didn't take part in the outfield catching with other members of the squad as he recovers from a fractured right hand he sustained a fortnight ago in the Australia A series, while Hastings also focused on fitness following ankle surgery earlier this year that saw him withdrawn from the squad for June's Caribbean tri-series.

The tourists may boost their fast-bowling stocks after Nathan Coulter-Nile trained strongly in the nets behind the Premadasa Stadium, seemingly shaking off the back complaint that hindered his preparation for Sunday's contest.

Quick Single: Flying Finch overcomes numbers game

Australia's pace strategy came out on top in the three-wicket victory, but batsman Travis Head has backed South Australian teammate Adam Zampa to play a key role throughout the series after bowling just seven of his allotted overs on Sunday.

"We played the conditions completely opposite," Head told media today.

"We found that with Jimmy's slower balls coming off the wicket and the pace was also difficult so it was a different game plan.

"Adam bowled really well, he got it in the right areas but it was just the wicket with the pace.

"When the ball went soft we got it to reverse a little bit, the cutters were working really well.

"His opportunity will come no doubt, he could bowl 10 tomorrow ... though I'm not too sure really.

"He's come a long way, he's played some really good one-day cricket so far and I think a breakthrough game for him won't be far around the corner and I think he bowled really well the other night."

Quick Single: Starc reality of facing new ball

Both teams were less than impressed with the state of the pitch for the series opener, with coach Ford predicting a vastly different surface tomorrow afternoon.

The hosts loaded up on spinners for the clash, but Ford agreed with Head's assessment that it was more difficult to tackle the seamers than the tweakers.

"From what I can gather, the extreme heat dried the pitch out more than the curators wanted," Ford said.

"It ended up very dusty and dry and the odd ball was exploding from the middle of the pitch.

"It was quite hard for the batsman to trust how the ball was going to come out of the surface.

"Maybe it turned out that it was a little tougher to face the seamers when they were bowling cutters than playing against spin.

"I'm sure the curator will have put a bit more moisture into this one and we should get a good surface tomorrow."