Sri Lanka is now 3 wickets down after Nathan Lyon joins the party of Australia. Skipper Cummins initiated the flow of wickets bowling opener Pathum out, while Kusal Mendis did not find a suitable position on the pitch and was struck early by pacer Mitchell Starc.
Sri Lanka looked well in form after getting troubled by the pacers but Nathan Lyon’s magical delivery struck yet another blow to the hosts. The significant role was played by David Warnr for his amazing catch which helped Lyon to bag in his first wicket of the day.
The Aussies will be keeping their dominance present as the ODI’s defeat might be compensated by the whites.
Captain’s speech during the toss:
Pat Cummins; We were looking to bat first as well. We have managed to put up a XI (laughs). Thankfully, Travis has pulled up well and is playing. Two seamers, two spinners and a couple of spinning all-rounders. Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Swepson are the bowlers playing. It is weird seeing him (Hazlewood) seating on the bench, he is a world-class bowler but we have gone with Starc.
Dimuth Karunaratne: We are going to bat first. We know how the pitch is going to behave on days 4 and 5, so we want to take advantage of the conditions. Vandersay is playing. We are playing one seamer and three spinners.
Playing XI for both the teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Swepson
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lasith Embuldeniya, Asitha Fernando
