Sri Lanka vs Australia 2nd T20I, Preview & Predictions: Visitors hope for another Maxwell-show

Visitors Australia meet Sri Lanka for the final time of their tour in the second and final T20I to be played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on September 9. After a record-breaking affair in the first T20I with Australia scoring 263 for 3 in first innings, it will be a match which will attract eyeballs from all over the world. Australia will be looking to avenge their humiliating Test series loss of 0-3 with whitewashing the T20 series as they have already won the One-Day International series (ODI) 4-1. On the contrary, Sri Lanka will be hoping to turn the tables in the second T20I as they will be looking to end the home series in a draw. Both the teams are yet to play against each other at this venue in a T20I. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia 2nd T20I at Colombo

Performance in T20I this year: Australia have had a rough year in 2016 as far as T20Is are concerned. They have won five of the 11 matches played in this year so far. They suffered a whitewash in the hands of India in January while playing in their home conditions. They had good practice before ICC T20 World 2016, against South Africa. Australia defeated South Africa by 2-1 in three-T20I series. They were eliminated from the first round of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016.

Australia are currently ranked at No. 6 with 112 ratings in ICC T20I Rankings, just one point below England. Australia will be aiming to move up the ladder by beating Sri Lanka a Colombo and gain fifth spot in the rankings.Australia pulled off what no one expected them to in previous game, going past Sri Lanka’s record of highest T20I total by any team — 260 for 6 against Kenya.

Sri Lanka have had a pathetic year playing in the shortest format of the game. They have won just three games out of 15 T20Is played this year. They have had a horrible year, first losing the Asia T20 Cup failing to go past group stages. The same story followed in ICC T20 World Cup 2016 as well as they got knocked out in group stages despite being the defending champions of the tournament.

Sri Lanka are currently on eighth spot in ICC T20I Rankings with 95 ratings by their side. They will be aiming to nullify the effect of first T20I and end the series with a 1-1 draw. In order to do that, Sri Lankan fielders need to improve as they dropped several catches in previous game which helped Glenn Maxwell to score a century and Australia to put up a record-breaking first innings score.

History of T20Is played between Australia and Sri Lanka: It might pose as a surprising fact that Australia have managed to win only three off the nine T20I they have played against Sri Lanka. Only a few know that by beating Sri Lanka in first T20I, Australia ended Sri Lanka’s six-year winning streak against them in this form of the game. If Australia manage to win the second T20I, it will be their first T20 series win against Sri Lanka.

Will Glenn Maxwell repeat first T20I heroics: It was a fairytale comeback for Australia’s explosive batsman Maxwell who blasted 145 runs from 66 balls supporting his team to break the world record. Though, he was given a few lifelines in the field at several instances, his hard-hitting was exemplary and a treat to watch. He had a rough year after he got knocked out of Australian side due to bad performance. Maxwell had a decent ICC T20 World Cup 2016 campaign if not a good one. He had a bad run for Kings Xi Punjab (KXIP) in India Premier League (IPL) 2016.

But he returned with style, silencing the critics playing at an unusual position for him as he opened the innings. He has become the talk of the town after he almost broke the record of teammate Aaron Finch who hold the record of highest individual score (156) in T20Is. Maxwell’s role in the second T20I as well, David Warner will be taking the decision of opening the innings with him.

Major attraction- Tillakaratne Dilshan’s last international appearance: R Premadasa Stadium of Colombo is expected to be jam-packed as Tillakaratne Dilshan will bid goodbye to international cricket at the age of 39 years and 330 days. Dilshan is second-highest run-scorer in T20Is with 1,888 runs under his belt from 79 T20Is at an average of 28.60. Dilshan has scored a century in T20Is as well, a feat only achieved by one more Sri Lankan batsman — Mahela Jayawardene. Dilshan has also scored 13 T20I half-centuries which is only second to Virat Kohli who has scored 16.

Dilshan could not perform in the first T20I as Mitchell Starc shattered his stumps for 4. He did not get a proper send-off in ODIs as Australia won the final ODI comprehensively but a huge number of fans will come to the stadium just to watch Dilshan play the ‘Dilscoop’ for one last time.

Will Australian fast bowlers pose problems again? Mitchell Starc has made a remarkable return to the Australian side post-injury. Starc started asking questions from Sri Lankan batsmen right from the beginning of the tour, be it the Tests, ODI series or T20I series. Starc has performed outstandingly well in spin-friendly conditions showing to the world that a fast bowler does not need favourable pitch conditions to bamboozle batsmen but accuracy and pace. Starc took 3 for 26 in previous game which included the priced wicket of Dilshan.

Scott Boland too has looked promising as he was given a chance in ODI series as well. Boland took 3 for 26, taking wickets early on and breaking partnerships later on. Though, James Faulkner managed to take just one wicket in the previous game, he has done handsomely well for his side in ODI series. Faulkner took a hat-trick in ODI series, he was able to dominate and bind the batsmen, not allowing them to settle down or score runs at brisk rate.

Facts and speculations apart, the second T20I will mark the end of Sri Lanka’s fiery opener Dilshan. It will be a treat to watch if the ball flies over the fence for a six from an original ‘Dilscoop’ off Dishan’s bat over wicketkeeper’s head and fine-leg and third man watching the ball go with admiration.

Squads:

Australia: Glenn Maxwell, David Warner (c), Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, George Bailey, Moises Henriques, Peter Nevill (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Scott Boland, Matthew Wade, John Hastings

Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Chamara Kapugedera, Sachith Pathirana, Sachithra Senanayake, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Dasun Shanaka, Seekkuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana

Time: 19:00 local| 13:30 GMT| 19:00 IST

(Arun Rawal, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a daydreamer, movie buff, and cricket fanatic. He could not play cricket, so did the next best thing, writing for it. He loves to play the flick shot over square leg, and believes Sachin Tendulkar is God. His Twitter handle is @ArunRawal93)