Stand-in captain, retiring star in focus as teams scrap for lead

Match facts

Sunday, August 28, 2016 Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT)

Big Picture

Three days ago, there was no reason to expect that this third ODI would be particularly headline-grabbing – at least, not beyond Dambulla hosting day-night cricket for the first time in six years. Then, Tillakaratne Dilshan announced his impending retirement, Steven Smith flew home and handed Australia’s captaincy to David Warner, and, suddenly, there was more than your average amount of interest in the match. It will also be an important game in determining the outcome of the series – the winner will move 2-1 up with two to play.

But for Sri Lankan fans, the attention will all be on Dilshan, the former captain, who is set to play his 330th and final one-day international. It will not be Dilshan’s last international appearance, for he is due to play in the T20s that follow this series, but it is the beginning of a farewell to a Sri Lankan favourite, and one of the last remaining international cricketers who made his debut in the 1990s.

Much of the attention will also centre on Australia’s stand-in captain. The decision to fly Smith home to rest ahead of a busy upcoming schedule has been met with plenty of criticism. It does, though, provide an opportunity to test the leadership credentials of Warner, who has never captained Australia in any format. In fact, Warner’s only previous captaincy experience has come in Twenty20, so this is new for him on more than one level.

Form guide

Australia: LWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)Sri Lanka: WLLLL

In the spotlight

At 39, Tillakaratne Dilshan has certainly been there and done that. And now, he’s doing it for the last time – in ODI cricket, at least. Barring a …

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