Sri Lanka vs Australia 1st Test betting tips & odds

The Australian cricket squad will take on Sri Lanka away from home for the first time since 2016 starting Wednesday, with spin the talk of the town.

All the emphasis heading into this contest revolves around the spin bowlers of both sides and how the batsmen will handle the conditions, with heightened interest surrounding the Aussies.

Nathan Lyon will start as favourite for the visitors in the wicket-taking markets, while the usual suspects in Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc are next in line.

Lasith Embuldeniya is the most dangerous operator on his favourable home soil, having taken a very impressive 34 wickets across 11 innings in Sri Lanka.

Another player who has the potential to break this game open is Praveen Jayawickrama, who is averaging three wickets per match in front of his native fans at just 23-years-of-age.

There is plenty of chatter amongst the Australian camp around team selection, with talks of Mitchell Swepson coming in to partner Lyon with his own variation of wrist spin, while Jon Holland’s name has also been thrown around.

With a pitch expected to favour the bowling line-ups, the winner of this match could be decided by whichever team plays safest at the crease.

Sri Lanka vs Australia 1st Test predictions & best bets

Match result: Australia

The combination of bowlers the Aussies have in stock have been extremely hard to beat in recent years, but we think the pair of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne is enough to secure the visitors a victory. Both Smith and Marnus are very patient with bat in hand, which is going to be crucial in their mission to outplay the barrage of spin. Nathan Lyon should also turn the ball enough to threaten any incoming batsmen, preventing Sri Lanka from putting together great scores at the crease.

To Score 50 (1st innings): David Warner

We previously mentioned Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne’s ability to patiently build an innings, but we think David Warner has the potential to see the ball early and smack it around the park. Warner was excellent in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka last week, when he put together 99 runs in a heated contest. Warner should get off the mark in a hurry and move on to put together a great innings.

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