Australia won the first T20 international against Sri Lanka but the match was closer than many expected. Sri Lanka bowled brilliantly to keep Australia’s batting in check but its own batting lineup failed to chase down a below-par target. Australia has now won the previous six T20 internationals it has played against Sri Lanka and will be confident of wrapping up the series this time around. The odds are still very short on Australia to win, especially considering the fight that Sri Lanka put up but the cricket betting sites do not seem bothered about that! Match prediction and cricket betting tips for Australia vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20 2022. The match is going to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney on the 13th of February 2022. AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA TEAM PREVIEWS AUSTRALIA Australia has opted to rest a couple of its important players as it looks forward to building a strong squad to try and defend its T20 World Cup title later this season. Ben McDermott is going to open the batting and he top-scored for Australia in the first match, He is coming into this series on the back of a brilliant BBL and just seemed to continue in the same vein. We are very happy to back him once more in this match. The Aussie batting struggled against the Sri Lankan spinners in the first match. Aaron Finch got out cheaply, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, and Matthew Wade did not make much of an impact either, and so there are a few concerns moving forward. Australia is going to be tested with spin in this next match as well but we expect them to fight back better this time around. Marcus Stoinis is another player that you can look to bet on. He looked in great form during the first match and could score runs once more. Australia eventually won the first match because of its bowling. Josh Hazelwood and Adam Zampa were the pick of the bowlers. They struck every time they came on to bowl and did not give the Sri Lankan batsmen an inch. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc were good without being brilliant. With an attack so strong as this, we do not want to put any money on the top bowler Australia betting market. It is simply a guess as any bowler could come out on top on a given day. As a team, Australia holds the advantage over Sri Lanka in every aspect of the game. SRI LANKA It is so good to see a Sri Lankan side that is capable of fighting back against Australia after a long time. Sri Lanka may not have won the match but it certainly showed that it is not a team to be taken for granted. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana are going to pose problems for Australia in every match that they play. They have the skills, the guile, and the temperament to attack the Aussie batsmen. Dushmanth Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne both bowled well but the surprise of the match was Binura Fernando. He does not have great pace but is able to hit the blackhole quite consistently. The Sri Lanka bowling attack is pretty good and a couple of early wickets will allow Sri Lanka to put the Australians under pressure. The problem seems to be in the batting lineup. Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathulaka looked to start aggressively, as did Avishka Fernando, but the gamble did not pay off. Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Diniesh Chandimal, and Dasun Shanaka are the other batsmen in this lineup. This is not a bad batting lineup, to be honest, but it did seem to struggle against the short ball in the first match. Also, we think Sri Lanka needs to show a bit more respect to Adam Zampa and not try to attack him like they would a net bowler. Sri Lanka has a poor record against Australia and is a side that is still finding its feet but we do think it is quite undervalued by the cricket betting sites at the moment. AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA MATCH DETAILS: Match: Australia vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I, Sri Lanka tour of Australia, 2022 Date and Time: February 13th 2022, Sunday, 01:40 PM IST Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA PITCH REPORT The pitch at Sydney Cricket Ground is good for batting. The batters enjoy batting on this surface as the ball comes nicely onto the bat. The seamers will get some early movement with the new ball and the batters need to be patient early in their innings. Once set, they can play their strokes freely. AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA WEATHER FORECAST The temperature in Sydney is expected to hover between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius. It will stay cloudy throughout the day. AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA PROBABLE XIS AUSTRALIA Ben McDermott scored his maiden T20I fifty and a cameo from Marcus Stoinis (30 off 17 balls) helped them put up 149 on the board in the first game of the series. Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa picked up four and three wickets respectively to defend the total successfully. SRI LANKA A brilliant Wanindu Hasaranga finished with three wickets as they restricted the hosts to 149. Pathum Nissanka top-scored with 36 but a lack of contribution from the other batters resulted in them falling short by 20 runs. AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA MATCH PREDICTION Having won the first T20I convincingly, Australia will be high on confidence. The Lankan side needed to fire in unison to bounce back and level the series. Their batters, especially, have to put in a better performance in the second T20I. Australia look a settled unit and have the winning momentum behind them. They are likely to come out on top on Sunday. Prediction: Australia to win this encounter.