Australia stick with the same XI while Sri Lanka have made two forced changes for the clash in Lucknow
Australia unchanged, bowl first in crunch Cup clash
Australia have backed the same XI to deliver their first win at this year's World Cup as their also winless opponents Sri Lanka elected to bat first in the crunch clash in Lucknow.
Captain Pat Cummins confirmed wicketkeeper Josh Inglis and allrounder Marcus Stoinis had retained their place in the side after being brought in for last Thursday's 134-run loss to South Africa.
Australia XI: David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoins, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (c, wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka
Both inclusions made five and each dropped a catch after being brought in for Alex Carey and Cameron Green as Australia started their World Cup campaign with consecutive heavy defeats.
Although the two teams are yet to win a match, Australia's inferior net run-rate has them languishing at the bottom of the standings following Afghanistan's upset 69-run win over England in Delhi last night.
The losers of today's match at Ekana Stadium will likely be required to win their remaining six group stage matches to progress to the knockout stage.
Cummins said he would have also batted first, and Australia will have to overturn a five-match losing streak when bowling first in ODIs to get their World Cup campaign off the mark. The Aussies had won their previous seven matches before that with first use of the conditions.
With Travis Head also expected to rejoin the Australian squad in India later this week as he continues his recovery from a fractured left hand, Cummins said he trust in their 15-player squad to turnaround as disappointing start to the tournament.
"We're really happy with who we've got here. There's obviously a couple of injuries that have forced our hand a little bit but we wouldn't change any of our personnel," he said.
The five-time champions will be banking on openers David Warner and Mitch Marsh to get them off to a flier in the chase later tonight, with the Aussies winning only one ODI in 2023 when the first wicket stand was less than 50.
Glenn Maxwell has been Australia standout bowler of the campaign so far with two wickets at just 3.72 runs per over in the first two matches, but the Aussie skipper will be hoping to get more overs out of his seam bowling allrounders after Marsh and Stoinis sent down three overs between them against South Africa.
Sri Lanka have been forced into two changes for today's match after captain Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a thigh injury suffered in their six-wicket loss to Pakistan last Tuesday with right-arm slinger Matheesha Pathirana also picking up a shoulder complaint.
In-form batter Kusal Mendis – who has hit scores of 76 and 122 in Sri Lanka's two matches – will lead the side in Shanaka's absence with allrounder Chamika Karunaratne and right-arm quick Lahiru Kumara replacing the injured pair in the XI.
Sri Lanka's batters have been in great form to start the tournament, posting scores of more than 300 both times, but their bowlers have let them down by failing to defend 9-344 in their previous match against Pakistan and conceding a tournament record 5-428 against the Proteas.
It's Australia's second straight fixture at Ekana Stadium and while the new pitch is adjacent to the one they played South Africa on last Thursday, Cummins admitted on match eve he was yet to perfect the art of predicting how a pitch would play.
"There are big differences, it's not a perfect science," said Cummins, who opted to bat first in game one and bowl in the next with Australia losing both matches.
"Most games are 50-50 whether you bat first or bowl first. Whatever you do, you've got to do it well."
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT
November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points