Sri Lanka have been dusted down without much fuss and attention now quickly moves to the visit of Pakistan, a side still ranked No. 1 in T20Is but with their grasp on the top spot becoming more tenuous by the match after a significant slip in form. If New Zealand take one match off England in their series and Australia win this 3-0, they will take Pakistan's top spot, reports Cricinfo.
Still, at least on paper, the visitors should give Australia a tougher challenge than Sri Lanka, particularly with the bowlers they have at their disposal. However, it's worth remembering that just a few weeks ago, they were beaten 3-0 by a Sri Lanka side deemed weaker than the one that has just visited.
They produced an efficient display to ease to victory against the Cricket Australia XI in their warm-up match, each of the five bowlers used showing what they can bring to the attack. Trying to stop David Warner will be another task, but he will do well to go through another T20I series without being dismissed. They could face an attack including three left-arm quicks (who, as Chris Lynn noted after the CA XI match, all bring a different skillset) alongside the left-arm spin of Imad Wasim. Australia were very impressive against Sri Lanka, but it is difficult to gauge what was really learned from the exercise, although the chance to build form and confidence should never be discounted. The balance of the side, with Ashton Agar at No. 7, has yet to be tested with a fall of early wickets but Aaron Finch has benefited by having five frontline bowlers.
