Ponting elects to bat

After a week of pre-series hype and much kidology from the management of both teams, the cricket finally started with Australia winning the first battle: the toss. Ricky Ponting elected to bat first under clear blue skies and a scorching sun in Dambulla.

Australia, seeking to overcome a poor record in Sri Lanka - they have won only three of the 14 matches played on Sri Lanka soil - selected three fast bowlers, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Brad Williams, who will be supported by a trio of spinners: Brad Hogg, Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke.

Michael Bevan, who played no part in the President's XI warm-up game on Tuesday, is restored to the side after recovering from a fractured rib that sidelined him during the latter part of the recent VB Series. Bevan's return pushed out Simon Katich.

Sri Lanka, as expected, named a final XI stacked full of slow bowling options. Muttiah Muralitharan, his sore shoulder now fully repaired, leads the attack with Kumar Dharmasena and Upul Chandana in support. As back-up, there will be Sanath Jayasuriya with his slow left-arm spin, and Tillakaratne Dilshan with a few offbreaks.

The pitch, bone-dry and grassless, is expected to assist the spinners and be painstakingly slow. But the Sri Lankans, who played on the same strip in a warm-up game on Tuesday night, believe it will be more batsmen-friendly than previous pitches at the venue.

Jayasuriya, now 34-years-old and playing his 309th game, becomes the most capped Sri Lanka ODI player in history. During the course of the series, Jayasuriya, now with 9172 runs, also has a chance of overhauling Aravinda de Silva's Sri Lankan record of 9284 runs.

Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Kumar Dharmasena, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Nuwan Kulasekera, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (Capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Michael Bevan, 8. Brad Williams, 9 Brad Hogg, 10 Brett Lee, 11 Jason Gillespie.