Australia have earned their first wicket victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Despite being the host of the World Cup, the Aussies lost the first match in the tournament against New Zealand. Today, the host beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets to get back on track. Aussie batter Marcs Stoinis sinks the Lankan with his devastating batting. He scored 59 off 18 to earn the first victory for Australia.
Match Report
Aaron Finch, the captain of Australia, won the toss at the Optus Stadium and decided to bowl first. Therefore, the Lankan started their batting innings with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis. Unfortunately, the visitors failed to get a good start.
Sri Lanka lost their first wicket in the 2nd over as Pat Cummins picked up Kusal Mendis. However, Pathum Nissanka remained very calm on the crease and made an important partnership with the new batter, Dhananjaya de Silva. Together they added 69 runs on the scoreboard.
As their partnership appeared strong, Ashton Agar provided a breakthrough for the host. He picked up Dhananjaya de Silva in the 12th over. However, he added 26 runs before losing the wicket. After a while, Pathum Nissanka also returned to the pavilion. Unfortunately, he lost the wicket by being run out. The opener scored the highest 40 runs for the Lankans. In addition, Charith Asalanka remained not out in 38 runs. As a result, Sri Lanka ended their innings with 157 runs relying on these big scores.
Chasing the target, the host had a slow start. Both David Warner and Aaron Finch were very defensive on the crease. But David Warner had to go back to the pavilion as he lost the wicket to Maheesh Theekshana in the 5th over.
However, the skipper handled the situation with Mitchell Marsh. They made a partnership of 31 runs for the team. Unfortunately, Marsh couldn’t stay long. After that, Glenn Maxwell came into the crease and tried to play aggressive innings, but he failed.
But Marcus Stoinis was very ruthless since he came into the crease. He tried to hit every ball he faced. With the skipper, Marcus Stoinis added 69 runs to chase the target. Both batters remained not out in this match. Captain Finch scored 31, while Stoinis scored a devastating 59 runs only from 18 balls. As a result, Australia won the match by 7 wickets.
