Five-time champions Australia placed bottom on the points table - that's a phrase new for everyone to hear and get accustomed to. However, that's true as the Pat Cummins-led side has been unable to find ways to dominate phases in the two games so far in the ICC Cricket World Cup. Loss of form to two key players in Mitchell Marsh and Adam Zampa coupled with luck and missed chances in the field are at the centre of Australia's two losses against India and South Africa and with seven games remaining, the Men in Yellow haven't given themselves enough room now.
Their bid to resurrect their World Cup campaign begins on Monday, October 16 against Sri Lanka in Lucknow. On the eve of the match, Australia received the happiest news they were want to hear, the return of Travis Head. Is this the shot in the arm they needed as motivation? Sri Lanka have their own problems with skipper Dasun Shanaka ruled out of the tournament due to injury and bowling looking toothless in the absence of two key bowlers but they might find Lucknow surface a bit more helpful.
Lucknow weather forecast
It is going to be yet another hot day in Lucknow and it is a big open stadium which means the sun really comes beating down at the venue. There will be cloud cover of around 52 per cent which means, there might be some relief from the heat and a forecast of a shower late in the day. But the radar shows that even if rain makes an appearance, it will not be threatening enough to affect a full game, which is very much on the cards. The temperatures are set to hover around a high of 33 degrees and a low of 20 degrees.
BRSABV Ekana Stadium pitch report
A new relaid surface at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow played much better than it did in the IPL or any international matches before. However, the nature of the surface still remained on the slower side. In the first match at the venue, a 311-run score looked like a 350-plus total as the surface slowed down a lot in the second innings. The pitch is a 270-280 kind of surface as Australian captain Pat Cummins admitted that they gave too many runs away and the team which wins the toss on Monday is likely to opt to bat first.
Probable playing XIs
Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha/Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha/Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka
Live telecast and streaming
The Australia-Sri Lanka clash will kick off at 2 PM IST with the toss scheduled to take place half an hour before. The match will be live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD and other language-specific channels in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu on TV. The live streaming of the match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website. The mobile users can watch the match for free.
