Australia vs Sri Lanka Live updates: In their ICC World Cup match against Australia on Monday, Sri Lanka were all out for 209 in 43.3 overs.
The leggie’s four-wicket haul results in the island nation losing nine wickets for 52 runs and being bundled out for 209; the opener regains his touch to drive the chase, while the wicketkeeper’s effort seals the deal for Cummins’ men. Mendis’ men suffer their third defeat in a row.
Australia got its World Cup campaign back on track with a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Monday, thanks to an apocalyptic dust storm and a bizarre bout of rain.
While it wasn’t exactly the statement win the Aussies were wanting for following two straight defeats, the return of Mitchell Marsh (52, 51b, 9×4) to his usual form and Adam Zampa (four for 47) to his wicket-taking form were welcome signs.
Maxwell also regained his form, scoring an unbeaten 21-ball 31 as Australia reached the mark in 35.2 overs.
After Dilshan Madushanka trapped David Warner and Steve Smith in the same over, Marsh and Labuschagne stabilized the ship with a 57-run stand. Marsh was proactive against pace and spin as Australia scored 64 runs off the opener’s blade in the first PowerPlay.
After Marsh was run out, Josh Inglis (58, 59b, 5×4, 1×6) took over as the aggressor, while Labuschagne chose the gaps and rotated the strike. On his way to a 46-ball half-century, the wicketkeeper-batter punished the short stuff. Both Labuschagne and Inglis were unable to bring Australia home, but their knocks were sufficient to close the door on Sri Lanka.
Earlier, after being asked to bowl, Australia’s desperation was on display as Mitchell Starc fumbled a review off the first ball and delivered a severe warning to Kusal Perera in the same over for backing up too much. Except for Labuschagne’s fumbled catch to save Pathum Nissanka on 43, Australia came nowhere near picking a wicket in the match.
Nissanka and Perera had outplayed the speed trio of Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins during a 125-run opening stand before Warner’s brilliance in the field delivered Australia its first victory when Nissanka miscued a short ball from Cummins.
Perera demonstrated his ability to read lengths immediately after Nissanka fell by pushing Hazlewood behind square-leg and then in front of it for successive fours. Cummins took his second wicket as he hit the perfect length and moved the ball into Perera’s hands.
Captain Kusal Mendis was the second victim of Warner’s acrobatics, eliciting the largest cheer from the day’s tiny audience. Zampa redeemed himself with that dismissal after being flayed for 22 runs in his opening three overs.
With three more wickets, the leg-spinner hastened the collapse, trapping right-handers in front with his googlies. Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for 52 runs, virtually matching the drama of an unusual 30-minute spell of rain and gusts that ripped through the event branding at the stadium.
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Australia Vs Sri Lanka Scorecard
SRI LANKA: Pathum Nissanka c Warner b Cummins 61 (67b, 8×4), Kusal Perera b Cummins 78 (82b, 12×4), Kusal Mendis c Warner b Zampa 9 (13b), Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw b Zampa 8 (8b, 1×4), Charith Asalanka c Labuschagne b Maxwell 25 (39b, 1×6), Dhananjaya de Silva b Starc 7 (13b, 1×4), Dunith Wellalage run out 2 (9b), Chamika Karunaratne lbw b Zampa 2 (11b), Maheesh Theekshana lbw b Zampa 0 (5b), Lahiru Kumara b Starc 4 (8b, 1×4), Dilshan Madushanka (not out) 0 (6b); Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-9): 13; Total (in 43.3 overs): 209.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-125 (Nissanka, 21.4 overs), 2-157 (Perera, 26.2), 3-165 (Mendis, 27.6), 4-166 (Samarawickrama, 29.1), 5-178 (Dhananjaya, 32.3), 6-184 (Wellalage, 34.5), 7-196 (Karunaratne, 37.6), 8-199 (Theekshana, 39.2), 9-204 (Kumara, 40.5).
AUSTRALIA BOWLING: Starc 10-0-43-2, Hazlewood 7-1-36-0, Cummins 7-0-32-2, Maxwell 9.3-0-36-1, Zampa 8-1-47-4, Stoinis 2-0-11-0.
AUSTRALIA: Mitchell Marsh run out 52 (51b, 9×4), David Warner lbw b Madushanka 11 (6b, 1×6), Steve Smith lbw b Madushanka 0 (5b), Marnus Labuschagne c Karunaratne b Madushanka 40 (60b, 2×4), Josh Inglis c Theekshana b Wellalage 58 (59b, 5×4, 1×6), Glenn Maxwell (not out) 31 (21b, 4×4, 2×6), Marcus Stoinis (not out) 20 (10b, 2×4, 1×6); Extras (w-3): 3; Total (for five wkts. in 35.2 overs): 215.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24 (Warner, 3.1), 2-24 (Smith, 3.6), 3-81 (Marsh, 14.3), 4-158 (Labuschagne, 28.5), 5-192 (Inglis, 33.1).
SRI LANKA BOWLING: Kumara 4-0-47-0, Madushanka 9-2-38-3, Theekshana 7-0-49-0, Wellalage 9.2-0-53-1, Karunaratne 3-0-15-0, Dhananjaya 3-0-13-0.
Toss: Sri Lanka; PoM: Zampa.
Australia won by five wickets with 14.4 overs to spare.
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