LUCKNOW: Five-time champions Australia registered their first victory of the World Cup campaign with a commanding victory over Sri Lanka here on Monday.
Australian bowling line-up set the tone of the game and the batters kept their focus to clinch a five-wicket victory.
Australia stumbled early in the innings with David Warner, who is featuring in his last ODI World Cup, losing his wicket for a score of 11. Dilshan Madushanka trapped Warner in front of the stumps in the fourth over.
Raising further hopes for Sri Lanka, he sent Steve Smith back to the dugout for a duck.
Mitchell Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne drove the innings from that point preventing yet another collapse. Marsh went on to score 52 but he was run out to due to good work in the field by Karunaratne. Kusal Mendis did not make any mistake as he dislodged the stumps before Marsh could drag his bat into the crease.
Josh Inglis joined Labuschagne. Madushanka claimed the third victim of his night sending Labuschagne back for 40 in in 29th over. Dunith Wellalage claimed a consolation wicket of Inglis who struck a crucial 58 of 59 balls.Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis took the Baggy Greens across the finishing line with scores of 31* and 20* respectively.
Earlier in the innings, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 209 runs in 43.3 overs.
Electing to bat first, Sri Lankan openers were off to a fantastic start as openers Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka set a foundation for something big. The duo targeted Australia’s pace trio of Pat Cummins-Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in a controlled manner in the powerplay, bringing up the 50-run mark in 9.1 overs.
At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka was 51/0, with Perera (24*) and Nissanka (22*) unbeaten.
Sri Lanka brought up their 100 runs in just 17.5 overs.
Perera brought up his fifty in 57 balls with eight fours while Nissanka reached his 16th ODI fifty in 58 balls, with six fours. Skipper Cummins ended the 125-run stand between Nissanka-Perera, removing Nissanka for 61 off 67 balls with eight fours. He was caught by David Warner.
In-form Kusal Mendis joined Perera, leading SL to the 150-run mark in 24.3 overs.
Skipper Cummins beat Perera’s bat and the ball crashed into his off stump, removing him for 78 off 82 balls, with 12 fours. SL was 157/2 in 26.2 overs.
Following that, spinner Adam Zampa ran through the Lankan line-up without letting them score much. He dismissed Mendis (9), Sadeera Samarawickrama (8), the centurions of previous match for Lanka and took down Chamika Karunaratne (2) and Maheesh Theekshana (0) in the lower order. Three of these dismissals were leg-before wickets.
Zampa’s heroics combined with Mitchell Starc’s fiery pace reduced Sri Lanka to 199/8 in 39.2 overs. Starc continued his streak of taking a wicket in every World Cup game.
Sri Lanka hobbled their way to the 200-run mark, bringing it in 40.1 overs. But just right after it, Starc removed Lahiru Kumara (4) with his signature yorker. SL was 204/9 in 40.5 overs and Charith Asalanka was the final recognised batter, batting with the tail.
Asalanka’s resistance came to an end as he was dismissed for 25 off 39 balls by Glenn Maxwell after being caught by Marnus Labuschagne. SL was 209/10 in 43.4 overs, losing their 10 wickets for 84 runs.
Zampa (4/47) broke the back of Lankan batting in his eight-over spell. Starc and Cummins took two wickets each while Maxwell got one.
Australia are now in the eight spot in the team positions.
Brief Score: Sri Lanka 209 (Kusal Perera 78, Pathum Nissanka 61; Adam Zampa 4-47) vs Australia 215-5 (Josh Inglis 58, Mitchell Marsh 52; Dilshan Madushanka 3-38). (ANI)