Cricket: Adam Zampa has told the media how greatful he is feeling ahead of his 100th ODI game for Australia coming up against England.
India eyeing third-straight final as massive bolter emerges for Lord’s clash: World Test Championship State of PlayTwo subcontinent Test series get underway this week with massive potential ramifications for the race to next year’s World Test Championship at Lord’s as two underdogs try to pull off a miracle.
India and Australia remain perched in the top two positions but with their blockbuster five-Test series on Australian soil still to be played a rematch of last year’s World Test Championship final — where centuries to Travis Head and Steve Smith helped confine India to a second straight defeat in the red ball showpiece — is no forgone conclusion.
The Tigers have never defeated India in a Test match let alone on Indian soil, while New Zealand have not won a Test there since Sir Richard Hadlee took ten wickets for the match in Mumbai in 1988. An innings defeat in the second Test of the one-all drawn series where both matches were played in Galle in 2022 left a sour taste in the Australians’ mouths and Sri Lanka has not been a happy hunting ground for the men in baggy greens as they have lost four of their last five Tests on the island.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Ajaz Patel took all ten wickets an innings the last time the Black Caps were in India but runs will be the key to them keeping their Lords hopes alive. They will carry that confidence forward into tackling India and dare to dream of gaining a first Test victory against their neighbours just as they did against Pakistan.
Mastering home conditions and picking up another upset away win or two is the likely path to Lords for Sri Lanka. In recent times, they have unearthed Pathum Nissanka as an effective, aggressive opening batter while pace bowler Asitha Fernando is putting together an excellent record with an average of 26.06 from 17 Tests and left arm orthodox spinner Prabath Jayasuriya already has seven five-wicket hauls in eight home Tests.
Pakistan would be unlikely to prepare such flat pitches once again but regardless of the conditions, they are a team down on form having lost Jason Gillespie’s first series in charge at home.
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