Who will win Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st T20?
Australia are set to host Sri Lanka for a three-match twenty20 series ahead of their test tour of India. The first T20 is scheduled to be played on February 17 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The match will begin at 7:40 PM local time.
Aus vs SL 1st T20: Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Star sports, Fox Sports, Willow TV
Live streaming: Bet365, Cricfix
Toss Prediction
The side batting second has won two times in the last three T20 internationals at the MCG. So since the wicket has favored the batsmen slightly more during the second period of play in the past few matches, the team that wins the toss on Friday may want to bowl first. Australia have batted second in their last three matches here and have won two of them, making them a good bet if they happen to chase again.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st T20...
Australia Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Batsman Michael Klinger, wicketkeeper Tim Paine, allrounder Ashton Turner and uncapped paceman Jhye Richardson have been included in the side. Chris Lynn has been ruled out of the series due to neck injury and he will be replaced by the recently concluded BBLs' highest run-scorer Ben Dunk.
Key Players
Aaron Finch who is one of the leading run-getters for Australia in T20s will hold the key with the bat. He has also scored the most number of runs for his side at the MCG and we predict him to score big in this match. James Faulkner is their third-highest wicket-taker in this format with 31 wickets and he will be a major threat for the Sri Lankan batting lineup.
Recent Form
Australia will be playing their first T20 match of 2017. They played 12 in 2016 of which they won 6 and lost as many. This goes to show that they have not been doing too well in the shortest version of the game. They do however have four wins in their last five matches.
Australia Predicted Playing 11
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Aaron Finch (c), Moises Henriques, James Faulkner, Tim Paine (wk), Travis Head, Adam Zampa, Ben Dunk, Michael Klinger, Ashton Turner, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins.
Sri Lanka Team News & Playing 11
Team News
Angelo Mathews has not yet recovered from hamstring injury and so he won't be a part of the Sri Lankan team for this series. Upul Tharanga is set to the lead the side in his absence while Dinesh Chandimal could not find a place in the squad due to recent batting failures.
Key Players
Sri Lanka will want Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella to fire for them in Friday's fixture. Dickwella finished as the leading run-scorer in the recent T20 series in South Africa with 133 runs and we predict him to take his team off to a good start. Lakshan Sandakan and Nuwan Kulasekara both picked up five wickets each in that series and they will be Sri Lanka's best bets with the ball.
Recent Form
Sri Lanka have seen more failures than success in this format in recent times. They have faced 14 defeats in the 19 matches they have played since last year and they really need to improve their win record in T20s. However, they had a successful series against South Africa last month where they finished winners by 2-1.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing 11
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Upul Tharanga (c), Niroshan Dickwella, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera, Sachith Pathirana.
Team form in last five matches (most recent first)
Australia: W W L W W
Sri Lanka: W W L L L
Australia vs Sri Lanka Head to Head
Sri Lanka hold a superior T20 head-to-head record over Australia having won 6 out of the 10 matches between the two teams. They have met only once at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the past with Sri Lanka emerging victors by a narrow margin of two runs. The most recent face-off in September 2016 was won by Australia.
Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st T20 Betting Odds
Sri Lanka played their last T20 series against South Africa in which they came back strongly to win their next two matches after having gone down in the first. Although they are coming into this match with two consecutive victories, their overall performance in T20 cricket of late has been below par which is why they are still up at 3.75 with 1xbet and 3.50 with bet365. Australia are firm favorites to win this first T20 international at 1.32 and 1.28 respectively.
Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st T20 Prediction
Both teams will be going into this contest with plenty of inexperience in the side and this should make things a little more interesting. Sri Lanka won the T20 series against a second-string South African team and they will be facing an Australian side on Friday which is pretty much second-string as well. So the visitors will be fancying their chances provided their batsmen are able to bat well on these quick and bouncy pitches.
Australia have won six out of the nine T20s they have played at the MCG which is quite an impressive record. They beat Sri Lanka 2-0 the last time they met them in a T20 series and we predict them to start this series off with a win as well.
Final Verdict: Back Australia to beat Sri Lanka in the first T20 at 1.32 with 1xbet and 1.28 with bet365.
Feb 17, 2017
14:10 IST / 8:40 GMT
Melbourne Cricket Ground - Melbourne, Australia
Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st T20 
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