Haynes, Lanning guide stuttering Australia to important win

Australia invoked their wildest nightmare when they slipped to 10/3 in a chase of 122. A defeat against India followed by another against Sri Lanka would have been too much for even them to come back from. But as champion sides do, they found heroes - in Rachael Haynes (60 off 47) and Meg Lanning (41* off 44) - who fought through the trough and then rode the crest with a 95-run partnership that eventually turned the tables on the opposition. Eventually, the defending and four-time champs chased down 123 with three balls to spare to register their first points of the World Cup.

How did Australia turn it around?

"It was all about stitching one partnership," Lanning would say at the end of the game. And it was true. Given that there were no real demons on the new pitch used at the WACA today, Australia were always one good stand away from coming back. It helped that they had one of the best batters in the world in Lanning to assuage the nerves. Lanning simply knocked the ball in the gaps and pushed aggressively between the wickets. This elicited fumbles and mistakes from the Sri Lankan fielders and seamlessly transferred the pressure.

Given Lanning's industry at one end, Haynes could use the license to throw her bat around when the opportunity presented itself. That eventually came in the 16th over against Sugandika Kumari. Haynes clubbed two consecutive sixes over cow corner, the first of which took her to a half-century. Thereon Australia needed only 26 off 24 and were almost home.

Of course, both Lanning and Haynes were beneficiaries of some great Sri Lankan benevolence along the way.

Sri Lankan benoelence?

Yes. Lanning should have been dismissed on 15 and then again on 33. She ended up unbeaten. Haynes should have been back in the dugout for 27 and not allowed to smash her way to 60. Let's go chronologically.

Lanning, on 15, edged Kavisha Dilhari to a sharp catch behind the stumps. Sri Lankans went up in a vociferous appeal but didn't find a backer in the umpire. They didn't have a DRS route out of that decision because of their own folly early in the innings when they used the review up in a moment of impish excitement when they had Australia three down for nothing. Then, Lanning had only brushed the keeper's gloves with the bat.

Haynes, on 27, offered a rather simple offering to mid-on, where Umesha Thimashini could only parry the ball over her head. Both batters received one more life each, giving Sri Lanka a grand total of four downright blunders on the field.

If Sri Lanka had Australia nervous, they must have done something right...

Yes, they bowled excellently up top in defence of what was a sub-par total on a true pitch. Left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani found swing that had eluded the likes of Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt early in the evening. With just her second ball she breached the defences of Alyssa Healy with one that curved back into the right-hander. Ashleigh Gardner suffered a similar fate and lost her off-stump.

When off-spinner Shashikala Siriwardene had Beth Mooney stumped in the fourth over, Sri Lanka believed. However, that belief was trumped by their sudden allure to indiscipline.

What else went wrong for them...

Their inability to bat beyond Chamari Athapaththu. The Sri Lankan batter reinforced her love affair with Australia, stroking a classy 38-ball 50. When she was dismissed off the last ball of the 14th over, the score was 91 for 3. In the next six overs, her teammates managed only 31 runs, squandering the advantage they'd achieved until then.

Nothing encapsulated the raw power of Athapaththu's stroke-making better than the gobsmacked smile that escaped 'keeper Alyssa Healy's face as the Sri Lankan captain stepped out and hit Delissa Kimmince into the stands. Athapaththu smashed another six but couldn't keep a powerful drive along the ground, finding Meg Lanning at extra cover immediately after getting to her 50. Nicola Carey, who came in for Annabel Sutherland, claimed the wicket that would eventually prove to be the difference between victory and defeat.

Where do the teams go from here?

Having put their campaign back on track, the long jet back to the east coast and to the national capital of Canberra will feel so much better for Australia. They hope to get a second victory of the tournament against Bangladesh on February 27. Sri Lanka, whose hopes of qualification hang by the flimsiest of threads, take on India in Melbourne on February 29.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 122/6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 50, Anushka Sanjeewani 25; Molly Strano 2-23, Nicola Carey 2-18) lost to Australia 123/5 in 19.3 overs (Rachael Haynes 60, Meg Lanning 41*; Udeshika Prabodhani 2-17) by five wickets.