Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat first in the crunch World Cup Pool A match against Sri Lanka at Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

All-rounder Shane Watson makes a shock return to the side in place of Mitch Marsh after being dropped for the last match against Afghanistan.

Spinner Xavier Doherty makes his first appearance at the tournament in place of seamer Josh Hazlewood.

Sri Lanka was forced into two changes after losing batsman Dimuth Karunaratne for the tournament with a broken hand and bowler Rangana Herath for a week with a cut to his spinning finger.

Experienced batsman Upul Tharanga, who came into the squad as an injury replacement for all-rounder Jeevan Mendis, gets his first start of the tournament.

Leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna was ushered straight into the side after being approved as the official squad replacement for Karunaratne.

Paceman Suranga Lakmal was dropped after a miserable outing in the nine-wicket victory over England last time out and Sachithra Senanayake replaces him in the Sri Lanka attack alongside Lasith Malinga.

Teams:
Australia - Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Xavier Doherty.

Sri Lanka - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lasith Malinga, Sachithra Senanayake.(Reuters)