Five-time world champion Australia finally got back on track last night by beating Sri Lanka. Australia first restricts Sri Lanka to 210 and gets that target with five wickets in hand. On bad batting performance, Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis feels their batting letdown is the reason for their loss. Kusal Mendis pointed out that the batters should have shown a bit more intent and character.
Sri Lanka looked in control in the initial phase of the game when they got a great start from both openers, but suddenly, they lost momentum in the whole match. They never looked in control during the whole match.
Sri Lankan openers proved their skipper’s decision right while batting first. The openers gave a solid start and shared a stand of 125; both openers scored half-centuries. The Australian Skipper found a window to make a comeback as he picked both the starting batters.
Sri Lankan batting lost control in the match and bowled out just for 209, even after a great start from the openers. Australia made a great comeback when Adam Zampa picked up four wickets to break the batting lineup. All Aussie bowlers bowled really well.
Warner was the first to depart, and Steven Smith was also trapped in the same over. On the other side, Mitchell Marsh was hitting the ball beautifully. He combined with silent killer Marnus Labuschagne, who did his work in the partnership very quietly. Marsh was unlucky to run out just after hitting his first half century in the World Cup.
Labuschagne then stood with Josh Inglis, who played beautifully for his half century and almost sealed the game for Australia. The big show showed some fire work at the back end, and Marcus Stoinis finished the match with a powerful six.
In the post-match presentation, Kusal Mendis expressed that they did not bat well.
“Nissanka and Perera batted well from the start. After that, we struggled and got a low score. 290 or 300 would have been a good score. We couldn’t rotate the strike much. In the last two games, we batted really well,” said Kusal Mendis.
Today, our batters struggled. I have confidence in my batting unit. I think Madushanka bowled really well. He gave us two early big wickets. We can field better as well. I hope Matheesha can recover quickly.” he added.