The World champions of ODI cricket are enduring one of their most miserable runs in international cricket as they prepare for the 3rd and final ODI against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
The Islanders have won the first match of the series to gain an unassailable lead in the 3-match series. They also won the only T20 match convincingly at Perth last week before toppling the hosts in the first two matches of the series that took place at
Melbourne and Sydney.
For the last match of the series the hosts would be banking on Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854 in a bid to prepare for
the Ashes that starts on the 25th of this month at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Ponting had a message for his troops before he left them for the Tasmanian tie, he wants them to play the brand of cricket that has made them one of the most feared teams in the world.
"It's about time we got back to playing the brand of cricket we know we are capable of and if we do that I am sure we will win some games”, said Ponting.
The Aussies have lost seven matches in all formats of the game since their win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the first test of the two match series at Lords in July.
Their run of defeats started when Pakistan edged them out in the second test at Leeds. From there they lost both their tests in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 to endure their first ever clean sweep in a test series since 1982.
They lost the ODI series also in India where two out of the three matches were washed out and the hosts secured a win in the second match played at Vishakhapatnam.
The run continued in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 and did not lose
even a single match in any format of the game.
Their preparation for the Ashes looks far from ideal and if they go down again in Gabba they would have endured their first ever whitewash at home in an ODI series. Ironically the Sri Lankans had not won a single series in any format down under and have
captured that frontier too.
The Islanders who have been brilliantly led by Kumar Sangakkara in the series are looking forward to the final match at the Gabba. They claim that they are pumped for securing a whitewash and would play the match with as much intensity as they played the
first two ODIs in the series.
Sangakkara was all-praise for his younger players.
"Sri Lankan cricket seems to be in really good hands going forward”, said Sangakkara during the build up to the Gabba match.
The wicket at the Gabba is generally one of the fastest in Australia and has steep bounce and pace. The Australians would aim to exploit the bounce and cause trouble to the free scoring Sri Lankans who are in good form on the tour.
Even if the top order fails the middle and lower order have put in a special effort in the series so far, and Sangakkara would hope for more of the same at Gabba.
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