Lasith Malinga
Lasith Malinga returns to T20 action at the MCG Reuters

Australia and Sri Lanka kick-off a three-match T20I series Down Under at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. Aaron Finch leads a second-string team that is without their key players - Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, all of whom are playing a tour game in Mumbai ahead of their four-match Test series in India.

The spotlight though is on Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga, who is making a return to international cricket after almost a year-long injury layoff. Also, the visitors will be led by stand-in skipper Upul Tharanga, who has replaced the injured Angelo Mathews.

Match: Australia v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I

Date: 17 February, Friday

Time: 4:40pm SGT/2:10pm IST/8:40am GMT

Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

TV Channel: Star Cricket will provide live TV coverage in Singapore.

Live streaming: Live streaming will be available on Hotstar, Channel Nine live, OSN Live

Tharanga should take heart from the fact that Sri Lanka have beaten Australia all the three times they have played against Australia Down Under. Also, despite playing the Big Bash League (BBL), Australian players have not played any international T20 game since September 2016, in which they defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 on the road.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka are heading into the series on the back of a 2-1 series win against South Africa, clinching the decider in Cape Town last month. Openers Niroshan Dickwella and skipper Tharanga have been in good form recently and would want to continue scoring runs in the upcoming series.

While spinners Seekkuge Prasanna and Isuru Udana can pose a big threat at the MCG, Malinga, who is among the best in T20 cricket, will be the danger man. Also 25-year-old Vikum Sanjaya, who picked three wickets against Prime Minister's XI on Wednesday, will be hoping to combine with the former and continue to impress.

Meanwhile, Finch also has a strong unit under him despite the absence of superstars. James Faulkner, Ben Dunk, Moises Henriques and debutant Michael Klinger, all of whom impressed in the recently-concluded BBL, will be hoping to play their part in helping their team start the series on a high.

Team News

Australia

Possible XI: Finch (c), Klinger, Dunk, Head, Henriques, Paine (wk), Turner, Faulkner, Cummins, Zampa, Tye

Sri Lanka

Possible XI: Tharanga (c), Dickwella (wk), Munaweera, Gunaratne, Siriwardana, Kapugedara, Prasanna, Kulasekara, Udana, Sanjaya, Malinga

TV Schedule

Australia: Channel Nine

Singapore: Star Cricket

Malaysia: Astro Cricket

India: Star Sports

US: Willow TV

Middle East: OSN Sports