Cricket Betting Preview Australia vs. Sri Lanka T20 Series Odds, Analysis

International Twenty20 cricket is the only format of the game of cricket in which Australia have struggled to make an impression.

The Aussies have competed in six editions of the World Twenty20 and made it to just one final, which when you consider their status as a perennial powerhouse in both Test and one-day cricket is an underachievement.

The main reason for this has been priorities, with international T20 not given the respect it deserves when it comes to scheduling, as evidenced by the upcoming three-match T20 home series against Sri Lanka that starts on Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Australia's best cricketers are in India preparing for a four-match Test series that begins less than 24 hours after this T20 series finishes, which shows where Cricket Australia sees international T20.

But the scheduling oversight has allowed the best performing players from the recent Big Bash League to get their chance in the national side.

Chief among them are Ben Dunk and Michael Klinger, who along with Australia's skipper for this series, Aaron Finch, topped the run scorers for the BBL.

The Perth Scorchers pair of Jhye Richardson and Andrew Tye performed well with the ball in the BBL and also got the call-up, but surprisingly Sean Abbott, who led all wicket-takers with 20 from 10 BBL games, missed out.

Oddsmakers believe Australia, who defeated Sri Lanka twice in their most recent T20 series in September, will be too strong despite missing players of the caliber of Glenn Maxwell, David Warner and Mitchell Starc. They are $1.24 to win the opener with Sri Lanka at $4.10, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

In terms of the leading run-scorer for the Aussies, Finch is at $3.50 to be the top scorer, with fellow opener Klinger at $4.50 in his debut and Travis Head at $5.

Sri Lanka are coming off a T20 series win in South Africa, where they lost the first game but won the next two. Opener Niroshan Dickwella was the Player of the Series, scoring 43 in the first match and a crucial 68 off 51 balls in the decider in Cape Town.

Asela Gunaratne struck 11 off the final over of that match to get his side over the line, and he and Dickwella shape up as important players, especially with the experienced Angelo Matthews missing the series through injury.

Upul Tharanga leads the team, which includes Lasith Malinga. The fast bowler has endured a horrific 12-month run with injuries and is the $4 favorite to get the most wickets for Sri Lanka in his first international match since last February.

Dickwella is a $4 favorite to top the scorers for the tourists, with young gun Kusal Mendis, who performed well in the Test series against Australia last year, the $5 second favorite along with Tharanga and Dilshan Munaweera.