Australia Chase Morale-boosting Win Against Sri Lanka

Melbourne: Skipper Ricky Ponting said it was time to end Australia's losing streak when the home side takes on Sri Lanka in the first of three one-day internationals in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Australia's 15-man ODI squad includes eight members of the T20 line-up bolstered by the addition of skipper Ricky Ponting, Nathan Hauritz, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Starc and Xavier Doherty.

The Australians are in a form slump ahead of the opening Brisbane Ashes Test against England on November 25, having lost their last five international games.

Sri Lanka thrashed Australia by seven wickets in the latest Twenty20 match in Perth on Sunday, which was Australia's first home defeat in 11 T20 matches.

The time for talking was over for the Australians, Ponting said on Tuesday.

Warriors trio Hussey, Johnson and Marsh enjoyed mixed results in the Shield over the weekend against South Australia in Adelaide.

Marsh's first-innings 137 contrasted with Hussey's disappointing double - a first-ball duck and three - while Johnson claimed 3-120 from 27 overs in the Redbacks' first innings.

Called-up by the New South Wales selectors to get some four-day cricket under his belt, Hauritz bowled only two overs for 1-7 as the Blues steamrolled the Bulls for 75 on Monday in pace-friendly conditions at the Gabba.

Fellow spinner Doherty, who's set to make his ODI debut in this series, enjoyed a much more thorough hitout in his most recent Shield outing against the Bushrangers at the 'G' with match figures of 7-145 from 58 overs.

The Australians have never lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka at home and will be expecting to keep that record intact, ideally with a clean-sweep of the matches in Melbourne, Sydney on Friday and Brisbane on Sunday - all of them day-night fixtures.

As Michael Clarke noted after Sunday's T20 defeat - Australia's first on home soil - time is running out for the hosts to generate some genuine momentum for the coming Ashes series.

The visitors will use the T20 result as a springboard for the one-dayers.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara said afterwards that it's hard to interpret a trend from just one game and his team still has a lot to prove.

But Sangakkara was thrilled with the performance of bowlers Suraj Randiv and Thisara Perera who claimed five wickets between them.

Coming off Melbourne's wettest October in 35 years, showers are predicted in the lead-up to Wednesday's match with a forecast top temperature for Melbourne of a chilly 16 degrees.

Team from

Australia: Michael Clarke (capt), Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), John Hastings, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Chamara Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Angelo Mathews, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dammika Prasad, Upul Tharanga.

Pitch and conditions
Australia's training session on Tuesday was interrupted by rain and isolated showers are forecast for Wednesday. The drop-in pitches at the MCG can be a little on the slow side, so don't expect the pace and bounce seen at the WACA on Sunday.

Stats and trivia

• Michael Clarke has captained Australia 16 times in ODIs and has made two centuries in those games; in his remaining 163 one-day internationals he has managed only three hundreds.
• his is a Sri Lankan side with plenty of experience: Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have each played more than 30 ODIs in Australia.
• The MCG is Sri Lanka's best venue in Australia in ODIs against the hosts (of grounds where they have played more than once), with four wins from 11 meetings.

Match facts
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 14:20 local (03:20 GMT)