Australia vs. Sri Lanka: Highlights, Scorecard and Report from Cricket World Cup
Australia beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs in a run-fest at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The co-hosts posted an imposing total of 376-9 after Glenn Maxwell smashed the second fastest century in World Cup history. His 100 came off just 51 balls, while Michael Clarke, Steve Smith and Shane Watson all made significant contributions to the haul by notching half-centuries.
| Finch | st Sangakkara | b Prasanna | 24 | 39 | 24 | 3 | 0 |
| Warner | c Prasanna | b Malinga | 9 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Smith | c T Perera | b Dilshan | 72 | 108 | 88 | 7 | 1 |
| Clarke | b Malinga | 68 | 81 | 68 | 6 | 0 | |
| Maxwell | c Malinga | b T Perera | 102 | 73 | 53 | 10 | 4 |
| Watson | c Chandimal | b T Perera | 67 | 87 | 41 | 7 | 2 |
| Faulkner | run out (Mathews) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Haddin | c T Perera | b Mathews | 25 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 1 |
| Johnson | not out | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Starc | run out (T Perera) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Doherty | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Extras | 0nb 4w 1b 1lb | 6 | |||||
| Total | for 9 (50.0 ovs) | 376 | |||||
| Malinga | 10.0 | 0 | 59 | 2 | |||
| Senanayake | 9.0 | 0 | 59 | 0 | |||
| Mathews | 7.0 | 0 | 59 | 1 | |||
| Prasanna | 10.0 | 0 | 77 | 1 | |||
| T Perera | 9.0 | 0 | 87 | 2 | |||
| Dilshan | 5.0 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
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A majestic knock of 104 from Kumar Sangakkara —now the first player ever to score three successive World Cup centuries—gave Sri Lanka some hope of chasing down what would have been a record total in this tournament. But the rest of their batting line-up was unable to muster enough, eventually finishing on 312/9.
| Thirimanne | c Haddin | b Johnson | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Dilshan | lbw | b Faulkner | 62 | 88 | 60 | 8 | 0 |
| Sangakkara | c Finch | b Faulkner | 104 | 138 | 107 | 11 | 0 |
| M Jayawardene | run out (Clarke) | 19 | 38 | 22 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mathews | c Haddin | b Watson | 35 | 57 | 31 | 2 | 1 |
| Chandimal | retd hurt | 52 | 77 | 24 | 8 | 1 | |
| T Perera | c Doherty | b Johnson | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Tharanga | c Warner | b Faulkner | 4 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Prasanna | b Starc | 9 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 0 | |
| Senanayake | c Doherty | b Starc | 7 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Malinga | not out | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Extras | 0nb 4w 2b 5lb | 11 | |||||
| Total | for 9 (46.2 ovs) | 312 | |||||
| Starc | 8.2 | 0 | 29 | 2 | |||
| Johnson | 9.0 | 0 | 62 | 2 | |||
| Watson | 7.0 | 0 | 71 | 1 | |||
| Doherty | 7.0 | 0 | 60 | 0 | |||
| Maxwell | 6.0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | |||
| Faulkner | 9.0 | 0 | 48 | 3 |
After winning the toss, Australia captain Clarke made the easy decision to bat first at a sun-drenched SCG and his players took full advantage of the plush run-scoring conditions.
Admittedly things didn’t get off to the best start for the co-hosts. Openers David Warner (9) and Aaron Finch (24) struggled to make the most of their time at the crease and were both dismissed within nine overs to leave the Australian middle-order exposed.
But with Clarke and Smith in tandem, the Baggy Greens went about constructing an ominous score. Without the subtle variations of Rangana Herath in their line-up, Sri Lanka lacked little bit of bowling depth in the middle of the innings and the aforementioned pairing put on an immaculate 134-run stand for the third wicket.
The Aussie skipper made a run-a-ball 68 before he was dismissed and, as noted by Peter Lalor of The Australian, given his minimal time out in the middle as of late, it was a superb knock:
Just four balls after was he was dismissed, Smith followed for a determined 72 and there seemed to be some danger this batting effort might lose momentum. But Maxwell gave this team an injection of impetus with a stunning display.
He scored the fastest ever one-day international century from an Australian player, bringing up his 100 in 51 balls. Maxwell’s knock was also the second quickest three-figure score in the history of the World Cup, just one ball slower than Kevin O’Brien’s innings against England back in 2011.
As we can see here courtesy of BBC Test Match Special, Maxwell has been in blistering form at this tournament:
While it was an historic moment from the Aussie, in the context of this game it was a hugely important score for his team, as it ensured Australia pushed well past the coveted mark of 300. Maxwell was partnered by Shane Watson during his record-breaking blast, who played an admirable supporting role to make 67 from 41 balls.
When Maxwell was eventually dismissed for 102 Australia were well placed on 337/5 in the 47th over and some late pinch hitting from Watson and Brad Haddin helped surge the home side to an eventual total of 376/9 from their 50 overs.
As noted by ESPN Cricinfo, it wasn’t the best day with the ball for Sri Lanka:
But they’re one of a handful of teams in the tournament capable of chasing down such a sizebale score and even though they lost Lahiru Thirimanne in the second over, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara signalled their intentions with some superb stroke-play early on.
Despite taking the opening wicket of the innings, Dilshan wasn’t afraid to take on the express pace of Mitchell Johnson either, per Sky Sports Cricket:
The mercurial pairing put on 130 in a swashbuckling second-wicket stand, but it eventually came to an end when James Faulkner had Dilshan trapped in front. Mahela Jayawardene was next to the crease, but he could only make 19 before being run out by Clarke.
While they were three wickets down and staring down the barrel of a defeat, Sangakkara provided a beacon of hope for this team. The veteran batsmen was going about his business with a patented serenity and went to his third successive World Cup century after Jayawardene's dismissal.
Here's the moment he reached his latest record-breaking landmark:
"WATCH: @KumarSanga2 brings up his third successive #CWC15 century. See the action on Sky Sports World Cup #fireitup http://t.co/nD4I5H6z46
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 8, 2015"
For Australia, getting the 37-year-old back in the dressing room was clearly going to be vital to their cause and once again it was Faulkner who took a critical wicket. With the rate creeping up, Sangakkara looked to go on the offensive, but he skied one into the heavens and Warner gobbled up an easy chance in the deep.
As noted by Fox Sports Cricket, that looked to put an end to Sri Lanka's hopes:
But with little to lose, Sri Lanka responded admirably to the loss of their talisman, primarily thanks to some big hitting from Dinesh Chandimal. He went on the charge in phenomenal fashion, reaching a half-century very swiftly, per Freddie Wilde of ESPN Cricinfo:
But unfortunately for Sri Lanka, Chandimal was forced to retire hurt on 52 and when they lost Angelo Mathews just a couple of balls later, their mini-revival was halted. With the rate rocketing the Sri Lanka batsmen took big risks, lost a flurry of late wickets and eventually finished up 64 runs short of the Australia total on 312-9
This was Australia’s first major test since that heartbreaking loss to New Zealand and encouragingly for all those in attendance at the SCG, it was one they passed with flying colours. Their batting was dynamic and destructive against a classy bowling attacking, while a Sangakkara masterclass aside, they contained the Sri Lankan batsmen pretty well overall.
Sri Lanka have arguably the world’s finest player within their ranks at the moment in Sangakkara and his innings was a joy to watch. But ultimately, the extraordinary power of Maxwell in the final stages of the Aussie innings was the difference between two otherwise evenly matched teams.
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