ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Sri Lanka Will Challenge Us With Their Spin Attack, Asserts Matthew Wade

Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade said that his team will have to face the spin challenge posed by Sri Lanka.

Australia take on Sri Lanka in their next match of the T20 World Cup campaign in Dubai on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka topped the Group A points table of the qualifiers fixture and started the Super 12 stage with a win against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka have played more games than us before the match: Matthew Wade

The Lankans will definitely hold an advantage over Australia because of more number of games they played in contrast to their opponent.

Wade believes Sri Lanka will be a challenging team to defeat like any other big team.

“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 was quoted as saying in an official release by ICC.

There could be up to 12 overs of spin by Sri Lanka: Matthew Wade

Wanindu Hasaranga, ICC No.2 ranked bowler in T20I cricket, forms a formidable spin pair with a young Maheesh Theekshana.

The duo have been the leading wicket-takers for Sri Lanka in this tournament so far as they share 14 wickets between them.

Many considered Sri Lanka as the underdogs of  the Group 1, but Wade is of the opinion that the island nation has a terrific team whose spin threat will be a big challenge for the Australians.

“No, they are 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 tomorrow,” Wade said.

“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.

In the opening game against South Africa, the Australians were backfoot in the chase of 119, but Steve Smith (35) and Glenn Maxwell(18) stabilised their innings against the spin bowlers like Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj.

“We’ve got some terrific players of spin ourselves, [Steve] Smith and [Glenn] Maxwell, those guys will be really important for us tomorrow,” Wade mentioned.

Australia won against the Proteas by five wickets after Wade and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis took them to the finishing line with some smart batting in the end.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2021: The Bowlers Will Be Extremely Fast – Aakash Chopra On Australia v Sri Lanka Super 12 Match