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The wounded Lankan Lions, having lost their first match in the tri-nation series to co-tourists India will have to pull up their socks quickly as they gear up to face hosts and hot favourites Australia in the 3rd one dayer of the CB series this Friday at the WACA in Perth. Sri Lanka lost by 4 wickets in their opening game of the series against India in a match that was not as close as the scoreline suggests. The leadership of newly appointed captain Mahela Jayawardene is going to be under severe test as his rebuilding team look to upstage the hosts to get amongst the points in the tournament. The Australians on the other hand, look a very confident bunch and will look to exert their authority on the Sri Lankans early in the series.

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Australia

After a dominant performance against India in the opening game of the series, The Aussies seem to be settled unit and will be looking for a repeat showing against the Lankans come Friday afternoon. Their batting came out of a bit of a hole against India with David Hussey and rookie wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Wade amongst the runs. Despite some of their top order not getting runs in the last game, form is not really a concern for the Aussie batsmen, who spent sufficient time in the middle during the Test series against India to ensure that runs a plenty can be expected all summer long.

The Australian bowling attack has been on fire this summer and if that form is anything to go by, the Sri Lankan batsmen will surely be put to the test. Another striking feature in this side is the depth in their bowling attack which is evident from the fact that there is plenty of rotation in the bowling unit and the likes of Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon are charging their batteries on the side lines raring to go later in the series. For this game though, the Aussies are likely to go in with the same combination as in the first game in the series. The clearly evident rise of left arm quick Mitchell Starc from being labelled a raw product to a potential strike weapon in their side so early in his career will be fascinating to watch.

Perhaps most crucially visible from the Indian leg of the tour has been the thinking going behind the dismissal of every batsmen, and bowling to a plan. Should Michael Clarke's men be on the money in Perth, Sri Lanka's batsmen will be in for a torrid time.

Sri Lanka:

The Sri Lankans could not capitalise on several opportunities to challenge India on Wednesday and will be bitterly disappointed to have lost out in the key moments of the match. Several of their batsmen got off to starts but failed to convert them into big scores. This is one flaw that they will need to rectify to have any chance against an in form Australian team. There might be a case for a more measured approach at the start of the innings against the Aussie pacers and keeping wickets in hand towards the end of the innings could help them post a competitive total. The experienced trio of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene will need to step up to the plate and do the bulk of the scoring against this quality pace attack on a bouncy WACA wicket and set a platform for the youngsters like Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne to play their fearless brand of cricket, like they did in South Africa towards the end of the tour.

The Sri Lankan bowling looked rather one dimensional against India and the think tank will need to come with a more balanced attack against the hosts on Friday. This could mean giving the wily left arm spinner Ranganna Herath a go in place of one of the seamers or possibly even going for two spinners by including the mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis in the side to expose Australia’s weakness or lack of prowess in handling the slower bowlers.

Recent form:

Sri Lanka: L W W
8th Feb 2012: lost to India by 4 wickets
22nd Jan 2012: Beat SA by 2 wickets
20 Jan 2012: Beat SA by 5 wickets

Australia: W W L
5th Feb 2012: Beat India by 65 runs (D/L)
Oct 28th 2011: Beat SA by 3 wickets
Oct 23rd 2011: Lost to SA by 80 runs

Likely XIs

Australia: M Wade, D Warner, R Ponting, M Hussey , M Clarke, D Hussey, D Christian, X Doherty, R Harris, M Starc, C McKay

Sri Lanka: U Tharanga, T Dilshan, K Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, D Chandimal, A Matthews, L Thirimanne, R Herath, L Malinga, N Kulasekara, D Prasad

Players to watch:

L Malinga: Sri Lanka’s fortunes will heavily depend on this slinger and how he performs on the day. He will need to be on top of his game to keep the Australians in check.

M Hussey: The unsund hero of Aussie cricket, Mr. Dependable Mike Hussey will again be the key in this middle order and if he fires, Australia will be well on their way to posting a good total.

Pitch and Conditions: With the hosts playing at the WACA one could expect some extra pace and bounce in the wicket chosen for this game to aid the Australian quicks.

Match Prediction: The Aussies will cruise to victory and stamp their authority on the tri-nation series.

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20