Sri Lanka snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Australia in 1st ODI and won the match by 49 runs. Charith Asalanka‘s unit defended 214 runs against all odds. Charith Asalanka‘s instrumental knock of 127 runs in 126 balls helped the island nation to put a competitive score on board.
Australia’s batting line up got brutally exposed against spinners & even against fast bowlers which was quite astounding given how they fared in the recently concluded Test series. It won’t be wrong to say that the Aussies are way too dependent on their skipper & star studded batter Steven Smith.
Pitch Report & Playing 11
Steven Smith – We would have batted first as well, looks dry and could break up as the game goes on. Lots of changes to digest, Head, Inglis and Maxwell aren’t playing, it’s hard to say (on the changes), you’ll see it on the TV. We’ll try to win both games, a good place to play and the boys are very excited. Trying to get the tempo of the 50 over game back, having played lots of Tests and T20s.
Charith Asalanka – We’ll bat first. It looks dry, I just want to put a good score on the board. We’re going 6-5 with two all-rounders. 270-280 could be a good score on this pitch.
Charith Asalanka’s monumental fightback overshadows Australia’s bowling unit
The inexperienced fast bowling unit comprising Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott & Spencer Johnson & Aaron Hardie created a havoc in powerplay overs. Sri Lanka’s batters weren’t doing proper footwork and gifted wickets to Aussie quicks. Sri Lanka were reduced to 55-5 in 14.3 overs as the top order was back in dug out and it seemed it was just a matter of time that Sri Lanka would get unfold for a score below 175 runs.
Charith Asalanka along with Dunith Wellalage played out the tricky phase. Despite the surface not being hugely tricky, Australian fast bowlers bowled wicket to wicket which irked the island nation batters. The part-timer Matthew Short who was bowling the 26th over got the better of Dunith Wellalage, Steven Smith in slip took a jaw dropping catch. The 67 runs partnership between Asalanka & Wellalage was looking threatening & Sri Lanka were reduced to 122-6 in 25.5 overs.
Charith Asalanka was fighting a lone battle but from nowhere he took calculated risks & pummelled Australia’s bowling unit. At one time Sri Lanka’s score was 135-8 in 32.2 overs. Out of blue, Charith Asalanka single handedly smashed a century and made sure that Ehsan Mainga isn’t playing a massive chunk of deliveries in an over.
Smith was quite perturbed given how Asalanka was toying with the bowlers. Charith Asalanka struck his 4th ODI ton and set a challenging yet below par total of 215 runs. The average 1st innings score at Colombo is 231 runs. Nathan Ellis was the pick of the bowlers who took 2 wickets and gave away 23 runs & bowled 2 maiden overs in his 9 over spell. It seemed as if he was tailor made for ODI cricket despite not having ample experienced.
Maheesh Theekshana & Co rattle Australia
Asitha Fernando had the new ball in his hand & on the very 2nd delivery, he trapped Matthew Short LBW & was given out. Jake Fraser- McGurk was seen struggling & the same issues of footwork continued after a below-par Pakistan ODI series. Jake Fraser- McGurk gave a regulation catch to bowler Asitha Fernando on his own bowling. The promotion of Cooper Connoly as a no.3 batter proved to be a bad move.
Australia were reduced to 18-3 in 5.3 overs. Steven Smith counter-attacked & wasn’t afraid of playing aggressive shots back to back. Charith Asalanka used various field placements by keeping a leg slip against pacers but that didn’t work. In the last over of powerlay, Dunith Wellalage was introduced into the attack & on the very first delivery he castled Smith’s stumps as the ball had kept a bit low which was enough to deceive Smith, Aussies were in tatters at 31-4 in 9.1 overs.
Marnus Labuschagne & Alex Carey tried to steadied the ship. Alex Carey was quite fearless in his batting approach. We had witnessed how Carey had played sweep shots & inside out shots against spinners in Test series. Marnus Labuschagne was a bit scratchy in his approach and wanted to play a ramp shot against Maheesh Theekshana in 18th over but couldn’t connect & was adjudged LBW, Australia’s score was 83-5 in 17.2 overs
Asalanka brought himself into the attack in 19th over & on second delivery Carey tried to play a lofted shot at long off despite fielder being there & couldn’t time it and was out & dismissed on 85-6. Carey played a fiery knock of 41 runs in 38 balls & hit 5 fours and 1 six. The shot selection of Carey was quite questionable given he being the only last recognised batter.
Aaron Hardie & Sean Abbott showed some resilience but the steep & uneven bounce was very much new to them. Maheesh Theekshana used his variations brilliantly and was bowling carrom ball smartly which bamboozled Sean Abbott & Australia were in deep trouble at 126-7 requiring another 89 runs to win from 24 overs.
Adam Zampa gave a glimmer of hope by whacking boundaries but it was a massive task for him to win the match for Australia. Sri Lanka bundled out Australia for 165 runs in 34th over. It was a collective effort from Sri Lanka who won a game from nowhere as the leadership.
Captains’ Quotes & Player Of The Match
Charith Asalanka | Player of the Match and Sri Lanka captain: [on his 100] So far this is number one for me. I just wanted to take it deeper and deeper. I wanted to see how things go on this pitch once the ball gets older. Wellalage came in and smashed a few boundaries which helped. We should have got [more than 214], but it was a tricky pitch, did not expect a seaming pitch in Khettarama. I batted more than 35 overs and I said to the guys, come and get a few wickets with the new-ball.
Steve Smith | Australia captain: [Toss] Don’t think it was too important. The wicket played similar throughout. Charith was the difference, he batted with a few partners and our batters could not get going. That happens. Tricky wicket to bat on for sure. There was not a whole heap of spin, it was skidding on, batters could not get going but better for the run. That’s in our mind, we have got a big ICC event coming up, of course we want to win this one, we will come back in a couple of days’ time.
What lies ahead for Sri Lanka & Australia
Sri Lanka would be booming with confidence with their victory. The island nation though have a lot to ponded given how the batting line up performed. The likes of Kusal Mendis & Avishka Fernando need to up the ante but also need to take some time before playing attacking brand of cricket. The 2nd & last ODI of the series is on 14th February at the same venue, Colombo which gives Sri Lanka a chance to win back to back ODI series against Australia in Sri Lanka as in 2022, the hosts had won series by 3-2.
Australia had rested Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell & Josh Inglish for the clash in order to manage their workload. Skipper Steven Smith would be utterly disappointing the way Jake Fraser McGurk & Matthew Short performed. Aussies need to quickly regroup as their inexperienced batting line up got exposed & there are high chances that the track for 2nd ODI would also be a rank turner.