Smith will return to lead the side against South Africa in an ODI series at the end of next month and coach Darren Lehmann echoed Smith’s sentiments. But make no mistake, Australia have all the ingredients including quality batsmen and bowlers to defeat Sri Lanka.
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With players like Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Dilshan settling down in their defined roles for the team, cricket-mad Sri Lanka quietly started producing results that showed class and reliability at the top of the batting order.
When Dilshan – who captained his team in all formats – enters the dressing room on Sunday against Australia, he’d definitely savour the moment as would the Sri Lankan fans at Dambulla.
After a slight hiccup at the 1999 World Cup in England where the Islanders got knocked out before the semi-finals despite arriving as the defending champions, Sri Lanka cricket has only moved forward.
Though he has never led a national side, Warner has had captaincy success in the IPL, leading Sunrisers Hyderabad to this year’s title.
Smith, the Australian skipper and key batsman in the three formats, has been sent home to enjoy time off before a short one-day series in South Africa and then a busy home campaign, capped off with a four-Test tour of India from March. With the left-hander as stand-in captain, Warner will hope for an inspiring performance from all his players. He is one of a handful of batsmen to have hit centuries in all three formats. “I know one thing – that he is pretty honest, and he’s going to back each and every one of us”. Much as the same with Smithy – very good leaders. “I’m sure David will fill the position really well”, ESPN Cricinfo quoted Faulkner as saying.
Though there is a change in guard for Australia for the remainder of the series, their objective of winning the series will not change.
Shaun Marsh has taken the place of homebound captain Steve Smith, while John Hastings and Josh Hazlewood have boosted the bowling attack in place of Nathan Lyon and Moises Henriques. Dilshan is one of the game’s favourite sons, the sort of cricketer that gets the crowd involved, on the edge of their seats, as he takes them on a rollercoaster ride. Pacific. In Australia, the match will begin to stream live at 7 p.m.
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Australia: TV: Fox Sports 3.
