T20 World Cup: Australia gear up for Lanka spin attack

AUSTRALIA wicket-keeper Matthew Wade feels his side must emerge victorious in the spin battle against Sri Lanka in a crucial Group 1 fixture in the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday (28). Both teams have won their first game but the Asians are ahead of the Kangaroos in net run rate (0.583 as against 0.253).

Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by 5 wickets in their opening game while Australia beat South Africa by a similar margin in their only game so far. Former champions England lead the table with two wins out of two.

ALSO READ: Mohammed Shami 'horribly abused' online after Pakistan defeat India

Wade and Marcus Stoinis put on 40 runs in only 26 balls to guide their side to win against the Proteas in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (23). The Lankans, on the other hand, successfully chased a target of 172 in Sharjah on Sunday (24) and will come armed with several spinners against the Australians.

“I think every game in this tournament is going to be hard work. As we're seeing throughout the tournament, every team in the competition on their day are going to be hard to beat, so Sri Lanka is certainly no different. They have had a few more games leading in than what we have as well,” Wade said in an official ICC release.

“No, they’re a terrific team. They're going to challenge us with a fair bit of spin, I would’ve thought. There could be up to 12 overs of spin, I reckon, that we'll probably face. And it’s going to be hard work. And we’ll have to be at our best to beat any team in this tournament, and Sri Lanka will certainly be no different. They have some terrific spin options and match winners, especially. We’ll have to be at the top of our game against the spin,” he added.

Wade also said Australia are leaving no stone unturned in their preparation and reckoned that most fans do not appreciate the amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes in the T20 format.

“There’s plenty of planning that goes into T20. I’d love a lot of the public and the fans to see actually how much planning goes in. It's probably the most planned format, I think, over the three,” the 33-year-old cricketer said.

“The bowlers and Andrew McDonald, the bowling coach, spent a lot of time with the batters. And Kusal Perera is a world-class hitter, and he'll be looking to go hard against our bowlers. But that's the great thing about T20 and about World Cups, the best versus the best,” he added.

Australia, who have five World Cup crowns in the 50-over format, are yet to win their first title in the 20-over format. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have made the finals thrice and won the title once. Australia reached the final in the 2010 edition but lost the title clash to arch-rivals England.