Australia put World Cup marketing campaign on monitor after dire Sri Lankan batting collapse

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 chased down Sri Lanka’s sub-par 209 with some ease, cantering to a five-wicket win in Lucknow to revive their flagging World Cup marketing campaign. The outcome leaves Sri Lanka second-last on the desk with three losses from three, and primarily needing solely wins from hereon to face an opportunity of creating it to the semi-finals.

For Australia, it was a victory arrange by a tenacious bowling effort, after which capped off by a chase exemplified by its readability of thought.

But a collapse of astounding proportions noticed them lose ten wickets for simply 84 runs – the worst such collapse in World Cups since 2011, and Sri Lanka’s worst collapse since their inaugural World Cup sport – as they had been bundled for 209.

Marsh lofted the primary ball of the chase, a fullish supply on off from Lahiru Kumara, again over mid-off and he did not look again. Maheesh Theekshana, introduced into the assault as early because the third over after Kumara had been hacked for 15 in his opening over, was taken for a pair of beautiful boundaries, and Marsh repeated the feat in Kumara’s subsequent over. The worst, although, was reserved for Dunith Wellalage, who was lashed for 3 of boundaries in his opening salvo.

But on a floor that Cummins had mentioned he would have preferred to have batted first on, this was a sport received with the ball.

Sri Lanka’s partnerships inform the whole story. A considerable opening stand of 125, adopted by a quick however industrious 32, after which… effectively, nothing. Indeed, past these two top-order efforts solely two others handed double-digits, and that too by the barest of margins. Contrast that to Australia, who put up stands of 24, 0, 57, 77, 34 and an unbroken 23 on their approach to victory.

The collapse is a worrying theme for Sri Lanka, who’ve now thrown away a promising place for the second sport working – the fourth time in 5 video games in the event you depend the warm-up video games. This sport additionally highlighted what might occur if Mendis fails to fireplace; regardless of the opening pair of Nissanka and Kusal Perera placing on 125, Sri Lanka’s center order didn’t capitalise on the platform, going from 157 for 1 to 209 all out.

Nissanka had obtained runs towards Pakistan however Perera was coming into this sport nursing a not too long ago recovered shoulder pressure, and never a lot current type behind him. But a lacklustre begin from the Australia seamers meant that though the Lankan openers weren’t precisely proficient in rotating the strike, there have been sufficient boundary balls on supply to allay any strain being constructed.

Together, the pair placed on Sri Lanka’s finest opening stand of the match, which might have had them eyeing a complete in extra of 300, however nobody might have predicted the extent of the collapse that adopted.

While the beginning of Sri Lanka’s slide will nominally be attributed to Cummins for selecting up each openers within the span of a pair overs, a big a part of the credit score ought to go to Warner whose catching offered the opening.

Either aspect of Cummins nipping one again and castling Perera, Warner held on to 2 high-difficulty probabilities within the deep. The first was to do away with Nissanka, who mistimed a hook seemingly into the protection of the vacant midwicket area, solely to see the patrolling Warner dash throughout from deep square-leg and maintain on to it on the slide.

He grabbed a fair higher one a few overs later, as soon as extra tearing to his left – from deep midwicket this time – making up an unimaginable quantity of floor to gobble up a miscued slog sweep off Mendis. He then needed to nurse some bruised kneecaps for his troubles as his ahead tumble took out lumps from the Lucknow outfield, but it surely was effectively value it because the Australians by no means appeared again from thereon.

Zampa was the beneficiary of that second second of Warner brilliance, and he struck as soon as extra an over later, trapping Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw with a slider proven to be barely clipping leg stump on umpire’s name. It was a marginal determination that left Samarawickrama shaking his head, however Australia will really feel it evened out a not-out lbw name towards Perera when he was on 24, which had they reviewed would have proven three reds.

It was round this time that the sport was halted by a quick bathe, adopted by some heavy winds which blew off some scaffolding and adverstising hoardings from the stadium roof. When play continued, it was all Australia as Sri Lanka’s batters struggled to come back to phrases with the additional little bit of zip within the floor following the rain.

Dhananjaya de Silva fell simply two balls after the restart, chopping one on from Starc, whereas a interval of concerted strain noticed Welllalage try an ill-advised single to mid-on, just for Cummins to throw down the stumps.

With the innings in freefall, a pair of Zampa googlies accounted for each Karunaratne and Theekshana, shortly earlier than Starc returned to take out Kumara with an inch-perfect yorker. Charith Asalanka was the final man out, slicing a slog sweep off Maxwell.