SL vs AUS | Travis Head ruled out of the 5th ODI after suffering injury due to on-field fatigue

Australian batter Travis Head has been ruled out of the fifth ODI of the ongoing series between Australia and Sri Lanka, confirms Aaron Finch.

Head sustained a minor injury while fielding in the fourth one-day international and was ruled out of the fifth and final ODI of the five-match series.

The left-hander's injury was a result of a large fielding workload on the grounds, with the outfielder covering more than 26km in the two ODIs he played.

The injury has raised concerns over his inclusion in the upcoming two-match Test series, which begins next week. The first game of the two-match series will start on Wednesday, June 29, and will be played at the Galle International Stadium.

Finch said resting Head is more of a precautionary measure, but the white ball skipper is unsure of his participation in the Test series. The Aussie opener also said that Mitchell Starc will not participate in the last ODI as he's still recovering from a finger injury.

"[It's a] bit more of a precaution. Especially where he fields in the outfield, he does quite a lot of kilometres, and the ground is quite heavy. Not sure what he's looking like for the Test matches. Just one more to add to the list at the moment. Starcy (Mitchell Starc) is still not right with his finger. Where it is, the stitching is still not quite 100% healed. So without being able to bowl without tape on, he'll be out as well," Aaron Finch said of Head's omission for the dead rubber fifth one-dayer.

Finch further said that his team is disappointed to lose the series.

"We're disappointed with the series not being on the line still. The reality is we have been in every game; with the bat, we've had opportunities to chase down some reasonable totals, and we didn't take them,"

"There's been times when we feel the game has just slipped away from us, but through low-risk cricket, which is quite strange, the game seems to be going in a direction then you lose quick wickets,"

"When the middle order gets going in every game, it shows the wickets are OK to bat on. But we haven't maximised those partnerships."

Steve Smith was also rested from the final two ODIs after hurting his quad but has been batting in the nets, and he's most likely to play the dead rubber last game of the series. If Smith doesn't play the game, Australia will have no option but to replace Travis Head with the wicketkeeper batter Josh Inglis.