Sri Lanka target rare series whitewash

August 13-17, 2016
Start time 10.00 local (04.30 GMT)

Like a villain in Peter Falk's old detective show, Australia's undoing could be completed by one more thing: Colombo. Crushed near Kandy, gutted in Galle, Steven Smith's men now move on to the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground for the final Test of their tour. Their No.1 ranking is at stake although, having lost the series already, even a surprise win in the third Test might not be enough to save their position.

Make no mistake: this is Sri Lanka's chance to create history. That rarest of cricket achievements - a whitewash against Australia - is theirs for the taking. In nearly 140 years of Test cricket, Australia have played 177 series of three or more matches and only four times have they been whitewashed: 0-3 to England in 1886; 0-4 to South Africa in 1969-70; 0-3 to Pakistan in 1982-83; and 0-4 to India in 2012-13. Smith arrived on this tour never having lost a Test as captain. Now he is in danger of joining Tup Scott, Bill Lawry, Kim Hughes and Michael Clarke in sharing an unwanted page in the record books.

The achievement is similarly rare for Sri Lanka who, prior to this campaign, have played 50 series of this length. Only three times have they swept teams 3-0, and two of those came against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The other was against a declining West Indies in 2001. To complete such a rout against Australia, who were presented with the ICC mace before this series began, would count as one of the finest achievements in Sri Lankan cricket history. Angelo Mathews could be on the verge of joining Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene as the only Sri Lanka captains to lead such 3-0 sweeps.

Of course, such talk is getting ahead of proceedings. Australia have one more chance to defend their honour. They would, though, need to show vast improvement in both playing and bowling spin in order to turn their results around, and none of the evidence from the first two Tests suggests that is probable. Having lost their past eight Tests in Asia, Australia have moved on to their ninth life. Chances are that when they head to India next February the cat will be dead, and unlikely even to bounce.

Sri Lanka: WWDLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: LLWWD

Nominally it is spin that has troubled Australia during this series, but often their problem has been the ones that don't turn. Between them, Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera have served up more sliders than a hipster café. Perera has 11 wickets at 15.63 in this series and, remarkably, 10 of them came in Galle, where he became the first Sri Lankan to score a fifty and take 10 wickets in a Test. Also during that match he became the fastest Sri Lankan to reach the milestone of 50 Test wickets, getting there in his 11th Test. Between Perera, Herath and left-arm wrist-spinner Lakshan Sandakan, Australia's batsmen can expect no let-up in Colombo.

Australia have played two spinners in each of the Tests so far, yet it is Mitchell Starc who comfortably leads their wicket tally with 17 at 13.47. Starc's speed, accuracy and ability to gain reverse swing have made him a weapon on these Sri Lankan pitches. Australia's batting has been their major issue, but with a little more assistance from the spinners Starc might at least make a contest of it. His 11 for 94 in Galle were the best figures ever by an Australian in Sri Lanka, and the best by an Australian fast bowler in Asia since the 1970s.

Dimuth Karunaratne's poor run of form - he has scores of 5, 0, 0 and 7 this series - could leave his place in jeopardy, although as the SSC is his home ground and the series is already won, the selectors might give him one more chance. If Karunaratne is dropped, a possible scenario is that Dhananjaya de Silva could move up to open and Roshen Silva slot into the middle order. Suranga Lakmal is set to play his first Test of the series, in place of Vishwa Fernando, who was required for only two overs on debut due to Sri Lanka's spin strength.

Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

Shaun Marsh appears a likely inclusion for Australia, though whom he replaces is up for debate. Adam Voges has carried hamstring tightness but trained fully on Thursday, although a decision on whether Voges would play in Colombo was not going to be made until after training on Friday. If Voges is passed fit, it is not out of the question that Usman Khawaja could make way for Marsh. An unchanged attack is probable, given the likely need for two spinners again.

Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Usman Khawaja/Shaun Marsh, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Lyon, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Jon Holland.

The SSC pitch might have a reputation as a draw wicket, but that is based on old evidence. In 2014, the top layer was re-laid and the surface has had a little more character. Since then three Tests have been played there for two results and a rain-affected draw. The pitch this year will be dry and is expected to provide plenty of turn.

"We've got to prove to ourselves that we can play in these conditions. To win the last Test match, that will give us a little bit of confidence. We're going to hopefully play with a little bit more freedom and courage, and be willing to take the game on."
Australia captain Steven Smith