Australian cricket
team were up against the Sri Lankans in the 22nd fixture of the ICC T20 World
Cup. The kangaroos won the toss and chose bowl first at the Dubai International
Stadium. Both sides had won their opening fixtures of the Super 12 and were
looking to continue the good form.

The Sri Lankans lost their first wicket early on as opener
Pathum Nissanka fell prey to Pat Cummins in the third over. However, they
regained control thanks to a strong partnership between wicketkeeper Kusal
Perera (35 runs in 25 balls) and Charith Asalanka (35 runs in 27 balls).

Aaron Finch’s men
seemed to be losing control of the innings and were desperately looking for a
breakthrough when Adam Zampa provided just that.

After the partnership
of Perera and Asalanka broke, no Sri Lankan batter other than Bhanuka Rajapaksa
(33 runs in 26 balls, not out) was able to make a mark. The others were dismissed
for measly scores.

Adam Zampa was the
star performer with ball as he took 2 wickets while giving away just 12 runs in
4 overs, a showing that won him the man of the match award. Mitchell Starc and
Pat Cummins also took 2 wickets each.

The Sri Lankans put
a total of 154 runs on the board which the Australians were able to chase in 17
overs.

Openers David Warner
(65 runs in 42 balls) and Aaron Finch (37 runs in 23 balls) registered a
partnership of 70 runs, putting the men in yellow in cruise control of the
innings.

The only batter who
put in a disappointing shift was Glenn Maxwell who stepped on the pitch following
Finch’s departure. He went back to the pavilion shortly after scoring 5 runs in
6 balls.

However, Sri Lanka’s
hopes of a comeback were quashed by Steve Smith (28 runs in 26 balls, not out)
and Marcus Stoinis (16 runs in 7 balls, not out).

Wanindu Hasaranga took
2 wickets in his spell while giving away just 22 runs and captain Dasun Shanaka
also increased his wicket tally by one.

Other than that, the
performance of Sri Lanka’s bowlers was largely disappointing and they will have
to put in a much better showing in their next fixture against South Africa.