Sri Lanka stopped the Australian juggernaut as they cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory with opener Pathum Nissanka hammering an unbeaten century in their ICC T20 World Cup match at Kandy on Monday night.
After restricting Australia to 181, Sri Lanka scored 184 for two in what proved to be a dominant performance by the co-hosts of the tournament. “One of the best performances in recent past. Really happy with how it went. We were still positive after losing Pathirana. We had that confidence and knew about the wicket. Each and every one showed the body language high today. Everyone wanted to contribute somehow. Chameera, Theekshana, Hemantha, we talked about him a lot (after the last game), he delivered today. Missing Hasaranga and Pathirana is a big miss. But luckily, we got a cover for Hasaranga. We cannot control that. We need to take the good things from here. Happy with how the proceedings went, especially Pathum’s ton. We will continue this for the rest of the tournament,” said Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka.
Australia were able to get an early breakthrough, dismissing opener Kusal Perera on 1 in the second over. It was Marcus Stoinis who got the wicket, making Perera slice tamely at a short of length delivery and give a simple catch to deep backward point.
However, the wicket did not slow down the co-hosts as the other opener Pathum Nissanka took charge and along with the No.3 Kusal Mendis troubled the Australian bowlers with their brilliant strokeplay. Both batters evetually got their half-centuries, keeping Sri Lanka on track.
Stoinis again came to Australia’s rescue, breaking the 97-run stand for the second wicket, dismissing Mendis for 51.
But the Island nation refused to back down. Pavan Rathnayake provided the perfect support to Nissanka, who kept up with his onslaught reducing the gap between the number of runs and balls left. 20 runs came off the next Stoinis over as Nissanka hammered without restraint.
The Australian bowlers struggled to get back in the game. Nissanka finally brought his century in the 18th over, the first batter to get to the milestone in this edition of the T20 World Cup. He remained unbeaten on 100, the joint-highest individual scores for SL in T20 World Cups. It was also the second-fastest T20I hundred for Sri Lanka.
“The wicket was very good today, and I was able to play my normal game. Very happy to get the hundred. We needed a good powerplay, had a good partnership with Kusal. Usually, it is a bit easier to chase, and the wicket seemed to get better. Not much dew. I was trying to back my strengths and was waiting for it. Happy to get several of those balls to his strength and happy to get those boundaries,” said Nissanka, who was named the Player of the Match.
Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field after which Australia charged out of the blocks. However, Sri Lanka scripted a superb recovery to hold them to 181.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh returned to the playing XI after missing the previous match due to injury scare. And he made an instant impact, giving Australia the best start of this World Cup so far. Marsh and Travis Head led the charge as Australia raced to 70 for no loss in the powerplay.
Australia’s man for the big moments, Travis Head delivered yet again, scoring 56, with the help of seven fours and three sixes. But after Head fell at 104, Australia added less than 80 runs for the last nine wickets.
Sri Lankan spinners did all the damage. Leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha provided the breakthrough by forcing an error from Head and then returned to pack off his partner. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage lured Green out, only for Kusal Mendis to complete an easy stumping. Kamindu Mendis, who bowls ocassionally dimissed the big-hitting Tim David.
While Australia were 105 for 1 after nine overs, they scored only 31 runs in the next five overs.
After giving Glenn Maxwell a repreive at 18, Pathum Nissanka held on to an incredible leaping catch as Maxwell attempted a switch hit. The blazing start gave Australia the impetus for a big total, but their middle order continues to disappoint and could never recover enough to put the pressure back on Sri Lanka.
In bowling, Hemantha led the way with 3/37 while pacer Dushmantha Chameera finished with 2/36.
“I thought it was a competitive total. Just disappointing. Well played to Sri Lanka, they outplayed us. We know at our best, we can make big scores. Just lost our way towards the back end. Could not get a partnership going and they bowled well. Knew we were a bit short with the start we had. Not much to say apart from the fact that Sri Lanka outplayed us. It is a devastated group. We are in the lap of the gods now. Lot of emotions in the room. We have not been at our best. We watch the Zimbabwe-Ireland game with hope, but we are disappointed,” said Australian captain Mitchell Marsh.
Brief scores: Australia 181 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 54, Travis Head 56, Josh Inglis 27, Glenn Maxwell 22; Dushan Hemantha 3/37, Dushmantha Chameera 2/36) lost to Sri Lanka 184 for two in 18 overs (Pathum Nissanka 100 not out, Kusal Mendis 51, Pavan Rathnayake 28 not out; Marcus Stoinis 2/46).
