Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

Dubai: Australia produced a clinical all-round performance to beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in a Super 12 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, here on Thursday.

Riding on some fighting knocks by Kusal Perera (35), Charith Asalanka (35) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (33), Sri Lanka posted 154/6 in 20 overs. Mitchell Starc (2/27), Pat Cummins (2/34) and Adam Zampa (2/12) were the wicket-takers for Australia.

In reply, opener David Warner (65 off 42) smashed a quickfire fifty and helped Australia chase the target in 17 overs with 7 wickets in hand.

Apart from Warner, captain Aaron Finch (37) and Steven Smith (28) and Marcus Stoinis (16) also made valuable contributions with the bat for Australia.

With this, Australia now have secured two wins in a row. They will now face England on Saturday.

Earlier, put into bat first, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Pathum Nissanka (7) in the third over of the innings. Nissanka tried to take the aerial route but failed to time the ball well and David Warner took a comfortable catch at the mid-off, leaving Sri Lanka to 15/1 after 2.3 overs. Despite losing the first wicket early, Charith Asalanka took the attack to the Australia bowlers in the powerplay. On the other hand, Kusal Perera played second fiddle as Sri Lanka scored 53-1 after 6 overs.

Both Asalanka and Perera were going strong until Adam Zampa broke the stand in the 10th over. Asalanka (35), who was enjoying in the middle, got out to the googly of Zampa. In the next over, Starc dismissed Perera (35) on a perfect yorker.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka: 154/6 in 20 overs (Kusal Perera 35, Charith Asalanka 35; Adam Zampa 2/12) lost to Australia: 155/3 in 17 Overs (David Warner 65, Aaron Finch 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/22).