Aussies eye off Canberra carnage without 'rattled' Smith

Australia believe Manuka Oval will present their best chance of going big with the bat against Sri Lanka despite Steve Smith dropping out of a middle-order they admit is still finding its feet.

Moises Henriques shapes as the like-for-like replacement for Smith for Tuesday night's third Dettol T20 International after the star batter was concussed in a daring boundary-line save during Sunday evening's Super Over win at the SCG.

While Inglis said Smith had knocked himself out in the attempt and was visibly dazed by the blow, the Aussies remain confident he will recover in time for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.

"I'm pretty sure he knocked himself out when he hit his head," newcomer Josh Inglis told reporters on Monday. "Fingers crossed for Steve, hopefully he pulls up well over the next few days.

"It was a brilliant piece of work … he was a bit rattled. He obviously hit his head hard, so he wasn't in a great space. But we'll see how he is in the next few days."

Travis Head, released from the squad to play in the Sheffield Shield match last week, has not joined the squad in Canberra and instead flew straight to Melbourne today ahead of the series' final two games at the MCG.

That leaves Henriques as the only specialist batter available.

Australia's other option would be to ditch the selection formula that won them the T20 World Cup by recalling proven performer Ashton Agar, who has been acknowledged as an unfortunate casualty of the side's move away from fielding five specialist bowlers.

The hosts defended a modest 9-149 in the series opener before a fielding effort labelled "sloppy" by captain Aaron Finch allowed Sri Lanka to match Australia's 6-164 in the second T20I, with a clutch Super Over from Josh Hazlewood getting them out of jail and giving them a 2-0 series lead.

"It's a beautiful ground, it's normally a very good wicket," Inglis, part of the Perth Scorchers team that played a host of 'home' games in Canberra during BBL10, said of the venue.

"If we're going to get a big score anywhere it's probably going to be here.

"The Sydney wicket was a bit two-paced, a bit slow at times and it was quite hard to time the ball. I'm expecting different from this wicket."

Finding consistent middle and lower-order contributors had long been an issue for Australia's T20 teams before Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade emerged as reliable finishers during last year's T20 World Cup.

The pair rescued their side during a remarkable semi-final comeback against Pakistan and finished the tournament with strike-rates of 137.93 (Stoinis) and 164.44 (Wade).

Stoinis has gone some way to living up to his desire to become the world's best late-innings batter while Wade's improvement in that space was acknowledged last night when he earnt a late Indian Premier League auction payday to play for the Gujarat Titans for A$446,000.

Both had previously struggled to adapt from the top-order roles they had thrived in for their KFC BBL teams, while Smith has also been coming to terms with a new role as the team's 'Mr Fix-it' instead of the No.3 berth he previous occupied.

Australia's World Cup winners are expected to be given every opportunity to defend their crown, but the eye-opening sale of Tim David for A$1.53 million – the highest figure forked out for an Aussie at this year's IPL auction – could see him given an international opportunity at some stage ahead of this year's showpiece ICC event.

"We are still nailing down that combination," Wade told cricket.com.au on Sunday. "It's only still a fresh combination with myself, Stoinis and Smith batting at five, six and seven.

"We haven't done it for a long, long period of time. It's really just been for the World Cup and then these couple of games (against Sri Lanka).

"It'd be nice to keep batting together as that core group and keep working out our strengths and weaknesses, and being able to finish in games together."

After Mitchell Starc was rested from Sunday's clash, Hazlewood has flagged both he and Pat Cummins could also be in line to miss games as the Aussies look to keep them fresh during a busy stretch of cricket.

Dettol T20 Series v Sri Lanka 2022

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head*, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa * unavailable for first three matches

Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne, Janith Liyanage, Kamil Mishara, Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Shiran Fernando

Game 1: Australia won by 20 runs (DLS)

Game 2: Australia won in a Super Over

February 15: Third T20, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm AEDT

February 18: Fourth T20, MCG, 7.10pm AEDT

February 20: Fifth T20, MCG, 5.10pm AEDT

All matches broadcast exclusively on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports. Radio coverage by ABC Grandstand, Triple M and SEN