Australia secured their first win at the World Cup 2023 as they defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in Lucknow on Monday.
Wicket-keeping batter Josh Inglis remained the highest scorer for the Aussies, having hit 58 off 59 balls. Opening batter Mitchell Marsh also scored a fifty as Australia chased down the 210 target in the 36th over.
For Sri Lanka, Dilshan Madushanka took three wickets, conceding 36 runs in his nine over while Dunith Wellalage took one scalpe.
Earlier, Sri Lanka were all out on 209 in their rain-affected match against Australia in Monday’s 14th match of the ICC World Cup in Lucknow.
Sri Lanka got off to a steady start against Australia after electing to bat, before losing three wickets in quick succession.
Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka opened the batting for Sri Lanka, reaching 125/0 in 21 overs. However, they slid to 178/4 by the 33rd over as the covers came on due to a light shower.
The game was resumed after a brief period of delay where the Sri Lankan middle and lower order failed to take a stand owing to brilliant bowling by the Aussie bowlers.
Adam Zampa took four wickets, conceding 47 runs in his eight overs. Skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc took two wickets each as Sri Lanka was bundled out for 209.
Both sides have begun the tournament with two consecutive losses and will look to get off the mark.
Conditions in Lucknow are expected to be hot and dry. However, the Ekana Stadium pitch has been shown to be unpredictable.
Australia
1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka
1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Lahiru Kumara, 11 Dilshan Madushanka
