England’s James Anderson (left) reacts as he bowls against Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (second left) and Nuwan Kulasekara during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy against England at The Oval ground in London, on June 13. Sri Lanka take on Australia today in a crucial Champions Trophy match.
London: Defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner’s bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture here today to decide the last of the remaining ICC Champions Trophy semi-final places.
It will be a virtual quarterfinal clash between the two sides at Kennington Oval.
If Sri Lanka beat champions Australia in the final Group A fixture at The Oval.
New Zealand could reach the semi-finals themselves if Australia win but fail to do so by a large enough margin to better the Black Caps’ net run-rate.
Yesterday, England entered the last four as one of two qualifiers out of Group A.
Sri Lanka’s recent success against Australia will provide a psychological edge to them -- in the last 10 ODIs played between the two sides, Sri Lanka have won six while they drew the ODI series 2-2 earlier this year in Australia.
Australia have just one point from two games, starting their campaign with a defeat to England and then having their game against New Zealand washed out.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka were skittled out for a paltry 138 against New Zealand in their tournament-opener but a superb bowling show by slinger Lasith Malinga saw them very nearly defend the total before losing by one wicket.
Sri Lankan batsmen, however, gave a better account of themselves in their stunning run chase against England to romp home against the hosts. Led by Kumar Sangakkara’s unbeaten 134, they chased down the 294-run victory target with relative ease to keep their semifinal hopes alive.
For Australia, it would not just be about tackling the threat posed by in-form pacer Malinga but also to regroup in after Warner’s altercation with England batsman Joe Root in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
It happened close on the heels of another off-field controversy involving Warner, who only three weeks ago was fined over an expletive-ridden Twitter tirade at two Australian cricket journalists, reminding of another unsavoury chapter in Australia’s questionable team culture. Australia’s regular skipper Michael Clarke continues to battle back problems, which saw him missing the first two games, but is hopeful of a return to action tomorrow.
The struggling side will have to work on its batting frailties after proving to be no match to the English, suffering a 48-run defeat in what was dubbed as a prelude to the five-Test Ashes series in July-August. It will be a big test for stand-in skipper George Bailey to turn Australia’s fortunes around tomorrow.
Australia bowlers Clint McKay, James Faulkner and Shane Watson did a decent job in restricting England to 269 when they were looking at a 300-plus score at one stage but they still need to add more sting to their attack.Agencies
