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Match facts July 26-30, 2016 Start time 10.00 local (04.30 GMT)Big Picture Once upon a time, Sri Lanka beat Australia in a Test series. Like most fairy tales, it was a little bit gruesome - Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie met grisly fates during Sri Lankas win in the first Test - and somewhat miraculous - persistent rain in the second and third Tests ensured draws that gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 victory. In the coming years, their achievement took on even more mythic proportions. Immediately following that series in 1999, Australia won a world-record 16 consecutive Tests. For a good couple of years, Sri Lanka were the last of the giant-killers.Yet the happy ending of that tour was just that - an ending. Never again have Sri Lanka beaten Australia in a Test, let alone a series. They lost 0-3 at home in 2004 despite the presence of champions such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya. In 2011, Sangakkara and Jayawardene were still there and Australia were ripe for plucking; having suffered an Ashes debacle at home, Australia had slipped to fifth on the Test rankings, below the fourth-placed Sri Lanka. But still Australia emerged with a series win.Now, the last of those legends have faded into retirement, and everything seems stacked against Sri Lanka. Australia are back on top of the Test rankings, Sri Lanka have slipped to seventh. Australia have more or less a full-strength squad; Sri Lanka have several bowlers injured. Even Muralitharan, he of 800 Test wickets, has changed camps and is coaching the Australians on this tour. But there is one solitary link back to that 1999 triumph - that was the series in which Rangana Herath made his Test debut, and Sri Lankas hopes rest largely on his stocky shoulders this time.Australia are yet to lose a Test under Steven Smiths captaincy, and he will be desperate to ensure that continues on his first tour of Asia as skipper. He will have his strike weapon Mitchell Starc back after a long injury lay-off, and a twin spin attack likely at his disposal. Smith himself is the No.1-ranked Test batsman in the world and his fit-again vice-captain David Warner is eighth. And thats without even mentioning the bloke averaging 95.50. If Sri Lanka want another fairy tale, theyll need a touch of the miraculous once again.Form guide Sri Lanka: DLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)? Australia: WWDWWIn the spotlight To overcome Australia, the Sri Lankans may just need something special from a one-man band. Fortunately, they have the Mike Oldfield of cricket. In the past five years, no Test player has accumulated more five-wicket hauls or ten-wicket matches than Rangana Herath. And only one man - Stuart Broad - has equalled him for Man-of-the-Match awards in that time. At home, Herath is an ever-present threat, and no player is more important to Sri Lankas chances in this series. There is no Dhammika Prasad, no Dushmantha Chameera, no Shaminda Eranga. But while Herath remains, Sri Lanka can dream.Last time Australia played a Test series in Sri Lanka, Nathan Lyon was as green as the Adelaide Oval outfield, on which he had not long finished working as a groundsman. He began the tour with five first-class matches to his name and was thrust in at Galle as the latest in a long line of spinners tried since Shane Warnes retirement four years earlier. It would be Lyon who would finally end the spin cycle, signalled by his taking Sangakkaras wicket with the first ball of his career. He returns as Australias most successful Test offspinner of all time, with 195 wickets to his name. Almost certainly on this trip he will become the 16th Australian to the milestone of 200 Test wickets.Team news By naming a squad of 15, Sri Lanka have given themselves plenty of options. A debut for either Dhananjaya de Silva or Roshen Silva seems likely, while the make-up of the attack needs to be determined with so many bowlers unavailable due to injury. Suranga Lakmal is doubtful due to hamstring tightness, which could mean a debut for Vishwa Fernando.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Vishwa Fernando, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.Australias XI has been confirmed, with the only question-mark in the lead-up having been whether they would opt for two spinners. Steve OKeefes work in the warm-up match - he took 10 wickets and scored an unbeaten 78 - extinguished any doubts, and on match eve Smith announced that OKeefe would be part of the XI.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Steve OKeefe, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.Pitch and conditions A couple of days out, the Pallekele pitch had a slight covering of grass but that was expected to be shaved off before the Test. It is expected to spin as the match wears on, though perhaps not so much as as it does in Galle.Stats and triviaThe all-time head-to-head record between these two teams is 26 Tests played, 17 wins to Australia, eight draws, and just a single victory for Sri LankaAcross all formats this year, Sri Lanka have won just a single game against Test-playing opposition: a T20 against India back in FebruaryAustralia would need to win at least 2-0 to ensure they do not drop any points on the Test rankings tableQuotes I have trust in all 11 players, but unfortunately our top bowlers are unavailable. But we cant refuse to play the game because of that. We hope the players who do play can do the job. Well have to play very well to beat the No.1 team.Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captainThe challenge for us is batting long periods of time. We know thats what wins games in these conditions.David Warner on Australias challenge in Sri Lanka Cowboys Jerseys China . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Dallas Cowboys Store . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. https://www.cowboysjerseysale.com/ . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Dallas Cowboys Shirts . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Need some help setting your fantasy lineup? NFL Nation reporters are here to help with predictions for every Week 9 game. The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been excluded after playing on Thursday night.EAGLES AT GIANTSPhiladelphia EaglesTight end Zach Ertz will catch his first touchdown pass of the season. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich acknowledged this week that QB Carson Wentz and Ertz havent quite gotten in sync yet. Getting Ertz going appears to be a point of emphasis, so look for Wentz to try to feed him in this one. -- Tim McManussNew York GiantsWide receiver Sterling Shepard will catch a touchdown pass.ddddddddddddHe reached the end zone in two of his first three games, but has been shut out in the past four, failing to top 32 receiving yards in any of those contests. But the bye week does him good, and Shepard has his most productive game of the season Sunday against an Eagles team that recently lost its slot cornerback in Ron Brooks. -- Jordan Raanan ' ' '