Key events
9th over: Australia 105-0 (Marsh 47, Green 1) Cameron Green arrives in the middle. Hemantha beats him with a fizzing delivery right away, Mendis whips off the bails and appeals loudly suggesting the big man toppled out of his crease but the replays show Green stayed grounded.
WICKET! Travis Head c PHKD Mendis b Hemantha 56 (Australia 104-1)
The Aussie hundred comes up inside nine over, Head slots Hemantha over long on for another SIX.
Gone! My days, Sri Lanka needed that. Travis Head holes out to mid off and the home side can breathe a sigh of relief for a moment.
8th over: Australia 97-0 (Head 50, Marsh 46) Sri Lanka cannot stop the bleeding. Travis Head goes to a breathtaking fifty off 27 balls. Marsh then slaps a SIX down the ground for good measure.
7th over: Australia 84-0 (Head 49, Marsh 34) The Aussies keep on coming! 14 runs off the over, Travis Head flogs Hemantha down the ground for four and over extra cover for SIX. It is raining boundaries in Pallekele!
6th over: Australia 70-0 (Head 35, Marsh 34) Cripes! Mitch Marsh hits five fours in a row off Theekshana! The best of the lot was the last, a rifled cover drive that skimmed to the fence like a bullet. Marsh uses his power and long levers to muscle length ball through the off side, Australia have really missed him. 20 off the over. The wheels are rattling for Sri Lanka after the Powerplay.
5th over: Australia 50-0 (Head 35, Marsh 14) SIX! Shanaka drops short once more, Head obliterates it into the crowd! Travis Head then brings up Australia’s fifty with a mow over cover. The Aussies are ticking.
4th over: Australia 38-0 (Head 23, Marsh 13) Head looks in ominous touch, he swats Theekshana wide of long on for four. Six off the over.
3rd over: Australia 32-0 (Head 19, Marsh 12) Oh no, Matheesha Pathirana – ‘Baby Malinga’ as he is nicknamed after his slingy action resembles the Sri Lankan great – pulls his hamstring in the middle of the over. It doesn’t look good for the bowler who is grimacing in pain. He has to go off mid over, sorry news for him and his side. Captain Dasun Shanaka has to step up and bowl the final two deliveries, his first is a drag down that Head whisltes through point for four. Finishes with a dot but trouble for the home side.
2nd over: Australia 25-0 (Head 14, Marsh 11) Nine off the over as Sri Lanka opt for the wily spin of Theekshana. A spawny outside edge beats the field and brings Head four but there’s nowt lucky about the next, a thunderous cut for four more. This is already Australia’s best opening partnership of the tournament.
1st over: Australia 16-0 (Head 4, Marsh 11) No signs of that groin injury hampering Mitch Marsh, he gets into his work with a rasping cut for four past point! A single brings Head on strike. Four! Head clips over midwicket with Swiss clock timing. A scampered leg by follows. SIX! Marsh launches down the ground for a big one!
Dushmantha Chameera will open the bowling with his zippy seamers. Travis Head and Mitch Marsh will open up for Australia, let’s play!
The players take to the field for the anthems, there’s some grass on the wicket and the noise is that we should see some turn. Short boundaries square, longer ones down the ground. Pallekele is at altitude which Big Matty ‘Haydos’ Hayden says will see the ball cut through the air like a hot knife through ghee. Something like that anyway, Hayden is at altitude too.
Elsewhere, England have qualified for the Super 8s despite another underwhelming performance. The same can’t be said for Italy who pushed them all the way.
Follow the reaction with Daniel Gallan here:
Teams: No Steve Smith for Australia.
Australia XI: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
Sri Lanka win the toss and will bowl first
The big news is that Mitch Marsh is back! He says he is ready to go albeit his first act upon returning is to call incorrectly at the toss. Sri Lanka insert his side and opt to have first use of the wicket with the ball in hand. Teams incoming!
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to the OBO of Sri Lanka v Australia from Pallekele.
It’s business time for Australia. After their defeat to Zimbabwe by 23 runs last week they can’t afford another defeat in the competition. A loss will see them all but eliminated in the group stages of an ICC tournament, that sort of thing just doesn’t happen.
Today the Aussies face a confident host nation who have two wins from two and a mastery in their own conditions. With injuries strewn across the camp, Australia will also likely be without their captain Mitch Marsh as he struggles to return from a nasty groin injury.
Steve Smith has been airlifted in and added to the squad, but will they pick him?
Plenty to get stuck into in what should be a crucial and enthralling encounter. We’ll have the teams and the toss in about ten minutes time with the game due to start at 1.30pm GMT/12.30am AEDT.
Business Time. Join us!
