Australia will be eager to put their recent loss behind them. It was far from an ideal start for the hosts where they were outplayed in every department.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka continued their winning run from the Round 1 stage of the tournament as they beat Ireland by 9 wickets at Hobart. Australia has played 8 T20Is against Sri Lanka this year and won 6 of them.

Only once this year has Australia lost a T20I at home against Sri Lanka. At this stage, where Aussies are under pressure and Sri Lankan bowlers are on top of their game, this could be an exciting contest between the two sides.

David Warner will be the key batsman at the top for Australia. The southpaw batsman averages 43.00 from 8 innings in 2022. The last time he played at Perth, Warner scored a brilliant 73 off 44 balls against England. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Australia Preview

The only true competition expected for Australia in this Super 12 group was from England who recently beat the Aussies in a T20I series. New Zealand has a poor record in T20Is in Australia and was the underdog in the contest against Australia.

Unless the loss against ZN hampers the confidence and momentum of the hosts, it won’t make much of an impact from the semi-finals’ perspective. Sri Lanka, Ireland, and Afghanistan should be, though not pushovers, easier targets to win those crucial points. 

Apart from David Warner, Australia needs Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell to strike partnerships in the middle order. Finch isn’t looking promising as of now and Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva is a likely match-up against the Australian captain.

Australia used just the 5 bowlers against NZ and it would be a better ploy to go for other options like Maxwell and Marsh as well. Cummins and Hazlewood were expensive in their spells but they can be expected to bounce back against Sri Lanka. 

While Tim David, given his style of play may not be expected to always deliver, especially in case of a collapse, Matthew Wade is a reliable batter in the lower order. 

Australia Predicted Playing XI:

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Sri Lanka Preview

The Asia Cup winners quickly bounced back after their crushing loss to Namibia in the opening match of the T20 World Cup.  Since then, Sri Lanka has won three consecutive matches including their first Super 12 fixture against Ireland.

Kusal Mendis has scored two consecutive fifties and will be a key batsman at the top for Sri Lanka in this match. Dhananjaya de Silva replaced Pathum Nissanka as the opener for their first Super 12 match against Ireland. 

This change in the opening combination worked out well for Sri Lanka as the two added 63 runs for the first wicket. Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa are the key middle-order batsmen who are yet to find their form in this World Cup.

While Asalanka looked promising in his recent outing against Ireland, Rajapaksa is yet to play an inning that’s fitting of the potential and talent he has. The skipper Dasun Shanaka has delivered some amazing finishes for the side lower down the order. 

However, even he has failed to get double-digit scores to his name in his last two innings. Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva are the big names in the all-rounders’ department.

While de Silva will be key at the top, Hasaranga can find gaps lower down the order and give Sri Lanka a good finish. Watch out for M Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, and Hasaranga to deliver breakthroughs with the ball.

Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI:

Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Ashen Bandara, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando, Lahiru Kumara

Winning Prediction

Sri Lanka has been in good touch with 3 back to back wins and their opener scoring back-to-back fifties in his last two innings. However, there aren’t positives in the Sri Lankan batting lineup and a tough bowling attack from Australia can pose a difficult challenge for the 2014 champions. There is a good chance of Sri Lanka making things difficult for the Aussie batters, but overall, we reckon the defending champions are a much stronger squad and will be favorites in our match prediction.

Our prediction is for Australia to win the match.