ODI preview 
/ Andrew Hughes / 16 February 2012 / Leave a Comment 
New boy Forrest can top score
"This match marks the half-way stage of the competition and with just 2 points from 3 games so far, Sri Lanka desperately need a win."
After their tie against India, it's crunch time for the Sri Lankans, but Andrew Hughes believes they can get the better of the hosts on Friday
February 17, Australia v Sri Lanka, Sydney, Live on Sky Sports 1, 03:20 GMT
Team News
Michael Clarke will miss this game with a hamstring injury so Ricky Ponting will take over the captaincy. Ryan Harris had a poor match last time and has been rested, whilst Michael Hussey, Brett Lee and Ben Hilfenhaus have all been called up. If he can prove his fitness, Lee will take Harris's spot and it will be between Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Starc for the remaining fast bowling position.
Sri Lanka have a settled top six but they have plenty of bowlers to choose from. They went with a two specialist spinner strategy against India and it nearly came off, so they will probably stick with that. Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara are fixtures in this format and Thisara Perera's ability with the bat will probably keep him in the side ahead of Farveez Maharoof and Chanaka Welegedara.
Venue and Conditions
Sydney is a tricky ground to weigh up. It can be a high scoring venue by Australian standards, as demonstrated last year when Australia chased down England's total of 333. But whilst a score of 270 is probably about par, there have been some dramatic collapses in recent ODIs at the ground and both fast bowlers and spinners have had some joy there. Interestingly, Sri Lanka have won 4 of their last 6 ODIs at the SCG.
Match Odds
This match marks the half-way stage of the competition and with just 2 points from 3 games so far, Sri Lanka desperately need a win. They have been bowling pretty well, they just haven't done well enough with the bat and key players like Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara just haven't had the impact that we'd expect.
Australia have a couple of wins under their belt already, but they haven't looked convincing in either of their last two games and the fact that they weren't able to defend a total of 269 against India on Sunday was a concern. The return of Brett Lee should sharpen their bowling up, but given that none of the Australian top three are batting well at the moment, the absence of Michael Clarke is a blow.
With neither top order in any kind of form, this is likely to be a low-scoring affair. These two teams fought out a last over thriller the last time they met and I'd expect this to be another closely matched contest, so in the circumstances, the [2.88] about the tourists is far more appealing than the [1.53] on offer for Australia.
Top Australian Batsman
We can't be sure where Matthew Wade will bat and both David Warner and Ricky Ponting are out of form at the moment. This leaves us with new boy Peter Forrest or the Hussey brothers. Forrest hit a solid half-century on debut and is worth a look at tempting odds of [7.5] or so.
Top Sri Lankan Batsman
Neither of the Sri Lankan openers has yet hit form and Kumar Sangakkara doesn't seem himself either. Dinesh Chandimal is the man in form and Angelo Mathews has hit some quick runs from the number six position but there were signs from Mahela Jayawardene that he was finding his touch in the last game and the captain is the one to be on at [6.0] or better.
Featured Market
Since we're predicting a low scoring game, we can capitalise by backing 'Under 82.5' in the 'Highest Individual Score' market at [1.8] or better.
Recommended Bet
Sri Lanka to beat Australia at 2.88
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