World Cup: Australia restrict SL to 209; Zampa takes four
Australia have bowled Sri Lanka out for 209 in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup encounter in Lucknow. The Aussie bowlers bounced back after Sri Lanka openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera shared a 125-run stand. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Adam Zampa shared eight wickets as SL faced a batting collapse. Notably, Zampa recorded his best bowling figures in ODI World Cups.
A record-breaking opening partnership
Sri Lanka were off to a dream start after electing to bat first. As mentioned, openers Nissanka and Perera added 125 runs, now the highest opening partnership for Sri Lanka against Australia in the World Cup. This is overall Sri Lanka's fourth-highest partnership against Australia in the tournament. However, the Lankan innings went downhill thereafter.
Perera smashes a vital 78
Perera, who failed to open his account against Pakistan, started decently against the Men in Yellow. He played cautiously but didn't shy away from punishing the poor deliveries. The former went on to smash his 16th ODI half-century and a fourth in the World Cup. His 78-run knock (82 balls) included 12 fours. This is now his highest score in the 50-over World Cup.
Nissanka smashes fifty in second consecutive game
Nissanka, who smashed 51 against Pakistan, took his form into the Australia game. He smashed a couple of fours in the first itself bowled by Mitchell Starc. Nissanka attacked the Aussie bowlers sporadically in the first Powerplay. He smashed his 11th ODI half-century and a second in the World Cup. His 61-run knock included eight fours. This is his highest World Cup score.
The fourth such instance
As per Cricbuzz, this was just the fourth instance of both openers of a side scoring 50+ runs against Australia in ODI World Cups. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera also did it against Australia in the 2019 edition.
An untimely collapse for the Lankans
Sri Lanka's collapse was triggered by Aussie skipper Cummins, who dismissed both Nissanka and Perera in quick succession. The likes of Zampa, Cummins, Starc, and Glenn Maxwell chipped in with crucial breakthroughs as SL lost their next eight wickets for just 52 runs. Notably, Charith Asalanka (25) was the only other SL batter to have scored in double figures.
The pick of Australia's bowlers
Zampa, the pick of Australia's bowlers, dismissed Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama in successive overs after half-centurions Perera and Nissanka departed. The Australian leg-spinner then got rid of Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Theekshana to complete his four-wicket haul. Zampa conceded just 47 runs in eight overs, including a maiden. Meanwhile, Starc and Cummins snapped up two wickets apiece.
Starc completes 300 List A wickets
Despite being expensive at the start, Starc jeopardized the Lankan batters with his pace. He took two wickets for 42 runs in 10 overs. After dismissing Dhananjaya de Silva, Starc reached a landmark. He now has 300 wickets in List A cricket. Starc recently scripted history by becoming the fastest to 50 WC wickets. He reached the milestone in Australia's opener against India.
