Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st T20I: Lankan’s likely XI

After a Test and a One-Day International (ODI) series, Sri Lanka and Australia are all set to face each other in the shortest format of the game. The teams will play two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) which will decide the ultimate winners of the tour. Sri Lanka started things off on a positive note with a 3-0 win in the Test series while Australia defeated the hosts in the following ODI series. Now the T20I series will be the ultimate target for both the teams to win and end the tour with the last contest to win. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka Vs Australia, 1st T20I match at Pallekele

Sri Lanka will miss their leader Angelo Mathews in the last two fixtures of the tour. Mathews suffered a calf-muscle injury while batting in the fourth ODI and is since unavailable. In his absence, his deputy Dinesh Chandimal will be in charge and lead the side from front. READ: Sri Lanka vs Australia: Aaron Finch, Chris Lynn to miss T20 series

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The T20I series must be special for the hosts as it will be the last international appearance of their veteran player Tillakaratne Dilshan. Dilshan has served his nation as a potent batsman, a handy part-time bowler and a dependable fielder for more than a decade and with the second T20I, he will bid his international cricketing career a final goodbye. Dilshan, along with his entire team, will definitely look to end things on a positive note to make it even more special.

Sri Lanka have made many significant changes in the side since the ODI series. Names like Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake and Dasun Shanaka have been added to the side in search of success in the limited-overs format and are expected to appear in the playing eleven. With Mathews not being present, Sri Lanka will have a hard time to find the proper replacements, as the skipper himself served as one of the most experienced and consistent players and contributed with both bat and ball. As the two teams head into the first of the pair of T20Is, here is the likely XI for the Lankans that Chandimal can take field with.

Top-order: Tillakaratne Dilshan is expected to retain his usual position in the batting order and open the innings. The player can partner with Dhananjaya de Silva. Dilshan has a lot of experience and has many times provided the team with a powerful start with a lot of runs coming in the mandatory powerplay. De Silva, given a chance in the previous match to open, did exceptionally well and emerged as one of the top-scorers for the side and hence is an obvious choice. With his performance in the recent past, Kusal Mendis has made the No. 3 spot, known to be the most important place in the batting order, his own. Dilshan’s experience, de Silva’s fearless approach to the game and Mendis’ destructive form — the three combine to form a strong top-order for the home side and if things go right, the team will get to a big total with a good contribution from the top three batsmen.

Middle-order: With Mathews not there in the squad, the middle-order surely lacks the amount of cricket it usually happens to have. The onus will be upon the stand-in captain Chandimal to take up the responsibility for the middle-order and play a leader’s knock. Chandimal will have to glue the entire innings together by staying there at the crease for a longer time since there is a lack of technical batsmen after him departing. Chandimal is known for his calm and cool approach but the T20I format needs a constant runrate and to maintain that, Chandimal will have to keep the runs coming in boundaries, preferably with more grounded shots. The next two batsmen, Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera both have very string backhand and are capable of big hits. As far as taking risk is concerned, it will e Thisara who enjoys the full freedom to go all guns blazing and score those extra runs with sixes and fours towards the end of the innings. To strengthen the batting even more, Chandimal can opt for Milinda Siriwardana to come lower down the order, build up partnerships with the tail-enders and ensure a big total looking at Australia’s strong batting line-up. There will also be Sachith Pathirana and Dasun Shanaka who can play brief, quick yet crucial knocks lower the order.

Bowlers: With Mathews not there in the squad, the place of a potent paceman also remains vacant and experienced Suranga Lakmal along with Thisara Perera will have to lead the bowling while Dasun Shanaka will complete the pace-attack. Australia has a heavy top-order and a few early scalps will help the hosts restrict them from scoring. Looking at Pallekele’s trend, the match is expected to be low-scorer and close fight between the two teams. The spinners will have to do the extra bit than the other pitches in the country and the pacers are expected to have a bit of extra advantage.

Talking of spinners, Sachith Pathirana has done well in his few appearances for the side and is expected to replicate his previous performances. Sachithra Senanayake has been recalled to the squad and is expected to play as the second specialist spinner while hopes will be high on Dhananjay de Silva, who has so far been successful with the ball in the previous few matches.

Sri Lanka’s hopes will lie upon their all-rounders as the team consists of a number of them. The team will have to overcome the fact that Mathews will not be available and if every individual plays their role properly, the team is no less able to win the T20I series opener.

Sri Lanka likely XI: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Sachith Pathirana, Dasun Shanaka, Suranga Lakmal, Sachithra Senanayake

(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)