Ponting’s absence in the 1st ODI would be a big advantage - Sangakkara
After winning the solo T20 International, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 will keep the heat on an Australian side without its first choice captain Ricky Ponting as both the teams will face off each other in the opener of three-match one-day series in Melbourne
tomorrow according to Kumar Sangakkara, the Lankan captain.
The tourists received a momentous boost ahead of the opening one-day international at Melbourne Cricket Ground match after the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting declared he would not be available for the Wednesday’s game as he had to attend
his grandmother's funeral in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854.
The well in-form Lankan’s hold the whip hand going into the one-day series after treating Australians as marinated chicken arriving from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 ready to be cooked when they thrashed Clarke’s military by seven wickets in Perth last Sunday.
Sangakkara warned that his men must keep applying the pressure to the World Champions.
"A player of Ricky's calibre not being in the side, he's a huge blow to anyone," Sangakkara told reporters. "He's one of the best batsmen probably in the last two decades or so. "I'm not sure how it will affect the Australians but for us
again it's a case of thinking more about us and trying to keep a focus on the processes that we try and do setting the tone for the innings and getting our combinations right."
Though Sri Lanka team is touring http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 these days as a build-up to the 2011 World Cup, beating Australia on home soil is also the main focus of side. "The World Cup is there, everyone knows when it is and this is a build-up for it,"
said Sangakkara. "But for us, this tour is very important. So we take this series in that context, as a series on its own,” he added further.
The Sri Lankan captain also told the media reporters that the tour would also help the selectors to pick up combinations for the next year’s World Cup. However, he did opine the World Cup squad would be finalized after playing against West
Indies.
Like Australia, tourists are yet to decide their squad for the upcoming game but the Sri Lankan captain confirmed Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga would open the Lankan innings.
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