Australia 215 for five (Inglis 58, Marsh 52, Labuschagne 40, Maxwell 31*, Stoinis 20*, Madushanka 3-38) beat Sri Lanka 209 (Perera 78, Nissanka 61, Zampa 4-47, Cummins 2- 32, Starc 2 -43) by 5 wickets
Australia followed up Sri Lanka’s below-par score of 209 with some ease by claiming a five-wicket victory in Lucknow to revive their flagging World Cup marketing campaign. The result leaves Sri Lanka second to last on the table with three defeats from three, and essentially only needing wins from now on to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
For Australia, it was a victory achieved thanks to a tenacious bowling effort, then capped by a run chase illustrated by its clarity of thought.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first on a pitch that Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis had deemed a ‘280-300’ monitor, Sri Lanka got off to a perfect start with the opening pair accumulating 125 points.
But a collapse of astonishing proportions saw them lose ten wickets for just 84 runs – the worst such collapse in World Cups since 2011 and Sri Lanka’s worst collapse since their inaugural World Cup match – as they had been grouped for 209.
Adam Zampa was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 47, while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc grabbed two each. Although special attention goes to David Warner for two fine catches in the deep to dismiss Pathum Nissanka and Mendis, wickets which somehow catalyzed Sri Lanka’s downfall. It was also a defensive effort that was a welcome change for Australia, after their opening defeats to India and South Africa were marked by unusually poor catches. In defense of their total, Sri Lanka, and especially Dilshan Madushanka, started very well. Madushanka’s first 12 deliveries went for zero runs and two wickets, including a double-wicket maiden. While these two wickets would see the dangerous Warner and Steven Smith sent packing, Mitchell Marsh at the other end gave Sri Lanka no respite.
Marsh bowled the first ball of the chase, a full delivery from Lahiru Kumara, again at mid-on and he didn’t look back. Maheesh Theekshana, introduced into the attack from the third over after Kumara was hacked for 15 in his…
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