Sri Lanka staring down the barrel against 'invincible' Australia

first T20I, Sri Lanka were unable to come together to challenge the might of Australia through the T20I series. Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy smashed hundreds in the first and third T20Is respectively - Healy's record breaking knock overshadowing the good work the bowlers had done through the series.

With the T20I series done and dusted, the focus now quickly shifts to the ODI format with three matches to be played in Brisbane.

Often a change in format can bring some positivity to the group. Shashikala Siriwardene steps in to don the captain's hat, relieving Atapattu of her leadership role. However, despite the personnel change and a shift in format, it looks unlikely that the visitors' fortunes will change much at all, with Australia looking simply unbeatable at the moment.

The hosts go into the series as the overwhelming favorites. They have momentum and form with them.

Having already secured their pace in the 2021 ICC Women's World Cup in New Zealand, Australia will go into the series with a sense of freedom. They are by far the superior side, but they will continue to try and raise the bar. It is something they did successfully in the T20I series, and likely what they will want to continue to do in the ODIs as well.

Matthew Mott, head coach of Australia, and Meg Lanning have spoken about wanting to create a gap between Australia and the rest of the world. If anything the T20I series gone by clearly indicated that they are on the right track. The success of Nicola Carey, Erin Burns and Tayla Vlameinck points to the depth in Australian cricket - they have a system that continues to churn out cricketers who are 'ready' for the international level - and that is one of the secrets of their success.

During the T20Is, the hosts fiddled around with their batting line-up, trying to make sure all their batters got some time in the middle - it is something Australia will likely continue to do through the ODIs. However, they will make sure that any plans of 'tinkering' do not come in the way of that dominance.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have plenty to ponder going in to the first ODI in Brisbane on Saturday (October 5). After Atapattu showed her team the way with a belligerent century in game one of the T20Is, the visitors largely fell apart. None of the batters were able to step up and take responsibility to hold the innings together or score heavily.

With the ball, only Udeshika Prabodhani and Siriwardene have shown they have what it takes to trouble  Australia's batters. However, they haven't been able to find consistent breakthroughs - it is something they will be desperate to change in the ODIs.

 

Squads:

Australia: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.

Sri Lanka: Shashikala Siriwardene (c), Harshitha Madavi , Chamari Atapattu, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Hansima Karunarathne, Yashoda Mendis, Nilakshi de Silva, Dilani Manodara, Oshadie Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandhika Kumari, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasuriya, Udeshika Prabodhani, Ama Kanchana.