Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted Sunday the five-time champions have "got to start winning and start winning quick" to rescue their faltering World Cup campaign, but his statement also stands true for Sri Lanka, who they face today.

Australia are ninth in the standings after they were beaten in both their matches so far, in Chennai and Lucknow, respectively. They play Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Monday, with the island nation at number seven on the table and also seeking their first win.

In their first two matches, the Aussies suffered a six-wicket loss against hosts India and a 134-run thumping by South Africa, their heaviest defeat at a World Cup.

Several Australian players have played in the country and made a name for themselves in the Indian Premier League, a two-month tournament held during the Indian summer.

But Cummins said playing a T20 game was very different from the one-day international format and that his side has been struggling to read the surfaces in this mega event.

"It's a tricky one, ODI cricket compared to T20s - played over half the game in daylight, half at night," Cummins told reporters ahead of Monday's clash against Sri Lanka.

"Yeah, (we) find these wickets hard to read as well. Sometimes they look terrible and they play beautifully, and the opposite. Sometimes they look flat and they end up spinning. So it is tough. You've just got to adapt on the fly sometimes."

Despite boasting the batting firepower of David Warner and Steve Smith, they have yet to post a total of 200.

"We're obviously 0-2, so we've got to start winning and start winning quick," Cummins added.

"Every game now becomes almost like a final. You've got to win just about all of them."

The figures so far make for grim reading for Australia.

None of their batters have made a half-century with Smith top-scoring with 46 against India and Marnus Labuschagne matching that modest mark in the rout by South Africa.

They have also been hamstrung by their fielding performances.

Against India, Virat Kohli was dropped on 12 before he went on to make a match-winning 85.

Had the catch been taken, India, chasing just 200 to win, would have been teetering at 20-4.

It got worse against South Africa where five chances went down.

Needing 312 to win, Australia slumped to 70-6 and were reduced to a damage limitation exercise in an effort to shore up their run rate.

On Monday, they tackle fellow winless side Sri Lanka who have had no problems scoring runs -- 326 against South Africa and 344 in the game with Pakistan.

Unfortunately for the 1996 champions, they conceded a World Cup record 428 to the Proteas while Pakistan's pursuit to win by six wickets was the highest successful chase in tournament history.

Sri Lanka's problems are not only limited to their bowlers not being able to complement the batters' efforts as they have seen their regular skipper Dasun Shanaka's World Cup campaign end due to a thigh injury. Sri Lanka, who called up Chamika Karunaratne as Shanaka's replacement, will now be led by in-form Kusal Mendis.

Sri Lanka came out on top 3-2 in a five-match series with Australia on home soil in June last year.

However, Australia eased to a comfortable 87-run win when the sides met at the 2019 World Cup at The Oval.

"The opportunity now is we've got some teams we haven't played for a while that we've had a lot of success against and we can be really confident when we go out there," Cummins said.