DAMBULLA: Australia will be hoping that David Warner’s debut as captain in the third One-day International here on Sunday will be the circuit-breaker needed to rescue a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka.

The teams will take the field in Dambulla with the five-match series tied at 1-1, but with the weight of momentum leaning heavily in Sri Lanka’s favour.

The hosts blanked the Aussies 3-0 in the Test series, and added insult to injury with a record 82-run win in Colombo to level the ODI series.

Then came the surprise announcement that captain Steve Smith would return home mid-series “to make sure he’s fresh”, for the upcoming ODI tour of South Africa and home summer.

Warner’s output with the bat will come under scrutiny after he was dismissed for 8 and 1 in the first two ODIs, and averaged just 27 in the Test series.

Shaun Marsh or Usman Khawaja will assume the No.3 role in Smith’s absence.

Australia’s inability to get on top of Sri Lanka’s bowling throughout the tour has continued into the ODI arena, despite the absence of prodigious wicket-taker Rangana Herath due to injury.

Australia’s middle-order looked hopelessly out of their depth at times during Wednesday’s record loss against left-arm spinner Amila Aponso and wrist-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna.

The Aussies also struggled with the ball in Colombo with Sri Lanka posting a record home tally against their rivals.

“The way we bowled in the first game was much better than the way we did in the second game,” said Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa.

“We have a lot of work to do to try and play like we did in the first game.”

There is hope for the visitors, however, with the Dambulla wicket historically less favourable to spin.

The match today will mark the final ODI for veteran Tillakaratne Dilshan. The 39-year-old is understood to have succumbed to pressure from selectors, despite maintaining form in a 329-match career which dates all the way back to 1999.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2016