ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2019

Finch, Starc star in Australia's table-topping win

by   •  Published on
Mitchell Starc's four-fer derailed Sri Lanka's chase
Mitchell Starc's four-fer derailed Sri Lanka's chase © AFP

It started with plenty of promise and even had glimpses of Sri Lanka of the old. A fiery start was led by Kusal Perera's 52, akin to what a certain left-hander used to do a couple of decades back, while Dimuth Karunaratne's adaptability to different situations was reminiscent of the Sangakkara-Jayawardene days. But, sadly for Sri Lanka, that was the only thing that turned out well in the run chase of 335 after Aaron Finch's 153, coupled with strong contributions from Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell, had powered Australia to an imposing total. With the end of Sri Lanka's opening stand worth 115 runs, a collapse ensued as Mitchell Starc ripped through the middle order to bag a four-wicket haul and deliver a comprehensive 87-run win that propelled Australia to the top of the table.

At the start of the second essay it was as if Sanath Jayasuriya had strapped the pads back on and walked out to open. The ferocious pulls and cuts, going over the cover region with a sliced bat for a six or the tickle behind the stumps, there were several traits of the swashbuckling Sri Lankan opener - bringing back fond/haunting memories depending on which camp you are supporting - as Kusal Perera decided to counter Australia's speed with his own brute force. At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka had raced away to 87, with Kusal Perera having belted five fours and a six, and such was his sizzling display with the bat that Karunaratne's edgy yet aggressive start was overshadowed. Not that the captain would mind, as it was the ideal platform that the team would have hoped for in pursuit of a daunting target. And it was Karunaratne who outscored his partner and was first to the fifty-run mark, getting there off 44 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Australia did themselves no favour as they wasted a review for a caught-behind appeal, and it came back to bite them when Maxwell had trapped Kusal Perera in front a few overs later only to be denied by the onfield umpire. A fifty followed for Kusal Perera, who got there off only 33 balls, but his party, and the profitable opening stand, was ended by a full delivery from Starc. As expected, the frequency of boundaries reduced after the dismissal and in an attempt to force the pace, Lahiru Thirimanne became Jason Behrendorff's first World Cup wicket which sundered a promising partnership.

A period of consolidation followed, with Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis putting on a watchful partnership. But the Sri Lanka captain's vigil came to an end three short of a century when he guided a short delivery from Richardson to point. Thus started a massive slide as they lost six wickets for only 50 runs, starting with Karunaratne's dismissal, as Starc highlighted the inadequacies of the Sri Lankan middle order. Richardson then accounted for the lower order with two more to his tally to end a chase that went from boom to bust.

Earlier, considering the overhead conditions, Karunaratne's decision to bowl seemed like a straightforward one. But the lack of assistance for the pacers, barring the initial few overs, and some wayward bowling worked in Australia's favour, with Finch leading the way. An 80-run opening stand, Australia fourth fifty-plus partnership for the first wicket in this World Cup, was thanks to Finch's well-paced innings as he found the fence regularly and rotated the strike well. At the other end, David Warner was watchfully setting up a platform for himself like he had done in some of the previous games. However, he wasn't able to build on this one as he failed to read a straighter one from Dhananjaya de Silva, who also accounted for Usman Khawaja for two quick wickets.

But Finch was in no mood to let the advantage slip as he continued with his fluent strokeplay to become only the third Australian captain to register a hundred in the World Cup. Smith too was busy at the other end - running well between the wickets and managing timely boundaries - to build a partnership in the middle overs that set things up nicely for Australia. The Finch-Smith association went past 150 - the highest stand for Australia in this edition - with a plethora of loose deliveries making things easier for the third-wicket pair who extended the total past 250 by the time the 41st over was completed.

Sri Lanka managed some damage control in the death as Finch fell in his attempt to clear the boundary off Isuru Udana while Malinga landed the yorker on the mark to clean up Smith, exacting personal revenge having earlier been smashed for a six by the No. 4 batsman. Malinga and Udana also sneaked in four tight overs, denying boundaries and conceding only 22 runs from overs 46-49, with the latter also picking up a wicket and effecting two run outs. But the earlier damage by Maxwell, when he had managed 22 off an over which left Nuwan Pradeep with figures of 0 for 88 - the most expensive in this World Cup - and Thisara Perera's 10-run final over, helped Australia finish with more than 330, which in the end proved to be plentiful.

Brief scores: Australia 334/7 in 50 overs (Aaron Finch 153, Steven Smith 73; Dhananjaya de Silva 2-40) beat Sri Lanka 247 in 45.5 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 97, Kusal Perera 52; Mitchell Starc 4-55) by 87 runs.

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