ISLAMABAD: Despite having a playing start, Australian bowlers managed to Restrict Sri Lanka to 209 runs in the ICC contest played at Lucknow on Monday. The Sri Lankan openers provided a decent start while reaching the first 100 runs in just 18 overs without a loss. And it was earlier predicted that they will easily cross the 300 mark. However, after getting the first wicket on 125, the Aussies managed to control the game till the end of the innings.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat first. Both the openers initiated the inning with an overage of 6 runs per over and dominated the game in the first 25 overs. However, in the 22nd over, Australian skipper Pat Cummins managed to remove Nissanka on 21. Nissanka was followed by Perera in the 27th over, who was again dismissed by Cummins on 78. After the two openers, no other batsman managed to stay on the crease, and Australia bowlers managed to get wickets with interval.
Later, the inform Kussal Mendis was also dismissed for just 9 runs by Zampa, followed by Sadeera Samarawickrama again by Zampa on 8. At the stage, Sri Lanka were 166 for 4 in the 30th over. In The 33rd over, Dhananjaya de Silva was bowled by Stark on 7, followed by a run-out dismissal of Dunith Wellalage in the 35th over. The Sri Lanka side, who scored 120 without loss in the first 20 overs, were 184 for 6 in the 35th over, and it was not difficult to score 250. The side lost their 7th wicket on 196 in the 38th over when Zampa got Chamika Karunaratne as leg before the wicket on 2 runs. The Lankan batters continued to stumble while losing their 8th wicket on 199 in the 40th over when Zampa removed Theekhshana for zero. In the 41st over, Kumara was bowled by Starc on 4. The whole team was dismissed on 209 runs in 43.3 overs.
Australia Bowling
From Australia, Adam Zampa was the most successful bowler, taking 4 wickets in his 10-over spill. Pat Cummins got two crucial wickets for both the inform openers while Mitchel Starc also took 2 wickets. Maxwell grabbed one wicket.
Australia Team: Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis †, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka Team: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (c)†, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka and Lahiru Kumara.
