Sri Lanka's big names have a point to prove

Australia and Sri Lanka have both already qualified for the semi-finals, but Monday's match between the two, along with Australia's clash against New Zealand on April 20, will probably decide the top three rankings. Australia have a huge 41-19 advantage in their head-to-head games, but that difference of 22 is entirely because of ODIs played between the two teams in Australia. When the two have played at venues other than Australia, both sides have won 12 each. Also, conditions in Grenada are likely to be similar to those usually found in Sri Lanka, and when the two teams have played there Sri Lanka have won 11 and lost only six.

On the big occasions, though, Australia have pulled through more often, winning four out of five World Cup matches, while they've also won eight of the last 12.

Ricky Ponting has scored 1291 runs against Sri Lanka at an average of more than 45, while all the other Australian top order batsmen have made runs against the Sri Lankans, but the key point is many of them have excelled on the bouncy pitches of Australia. The exceptions are Ponting, who has done well both home and away, and Andrew Symonds, who has actually revelled in overseas conditions.

The Sri Lankan batsmen, on the other hand, have generally struggled against Australia. Kumar Sangakkara has been the shining exception, but the others have hardly been prolific. Sanath Jayasuriya has had an especially tough time, scoring only 849 runs in 41 matches at a mediocre average of 22. His stats against them are even worse at home: in 14 games he averages only 14.07

Glenn McGrath has had an excellent World Cup so far, and if his numbers against Sri Lanka are anything to go by, he might have a few more wickets in his bag by the time Monday's game is done. In 23 matches against them, McGrath has taken 33 wickets at less than 25 apiece. The stand-out bowler, though, is Nathan Bracken, who averages two-and-a-half wickets per match against Sri Lanka, at an average of less than 16.

As you'd expect Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan have taken lots of wickets against Australia, but they haven't come as cheap as they usually do. Vaas concedes more than 35 per wicket, while the numbers aren't a lot better for Murali. When playing for Sri Lanka, his wickets against Australia come at more than 30 apiece.

Muralitharan has usually been the key to Sri Lanka's success during the middle overs, but the Australians in general - and Ponting in particular - have tackled him quite well. If the pitch in Grenada offers him some assistance, though, he could be a handful on Monday.