T20 Australia vs Sri Lanka: Josh Hazlewood and openers give Australia a lead of 1-0
Australia went up in the three-match T20 series with a 1-0 lead, too, by being in a clinical commanding position. They chased down the target posted by Sri Lanka with ten wickets remaining and six overs to spare
Image credit: Josh Hazlewood : Brings Stability in Bowling side Josh Hazlewood : Lethal against Sri lankaHazlewood triggers a catastrophic collapse
On winning the toss, Aaron Finch chose to bowl first. Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka opened the innings for Sri Lanka. They gave a stable start to the team by building 39 of 26 when Nissanka got bowled by Starc. Charith Asalanka joined Gunathilaka to stitch a partnership of 61-runs off 46 balls. Danushka was taken by Josh Hazlewood, while Asalanka lost his wicket in a run-out. From being 100 for 1 to bundling out for 128, Sri Lanka's middle and lower batting order failed the momentum and revive the innings as Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Hazlewood struck three in the 13th over to dismiss Kusal Mendis (1), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (0), and skipper Dasun Shanaka (0) to return with figures of 4-0-16-4. Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera lost wickets to Mitchell Starc after making 17 and 1 runs. The bowler's clinical bowling bundled Sri Lanka for 128.
Hazlewood, Player of the Match, said, "It's quite hot here, quite sweaty. The wicket is slow, but you can use that to your advantage. The new ball flew off the bat a little bit, and we dragged it back (length). Have been working hard on my T20 game. Playing a lot of it. And we saw that tonight."
Finch and Warner bossed the chase
David Warner and Aaron Finch took to the field in response to the target. With a tiny mark to defend, Skipper Aaron Finch scored 61 off 40, whereas David Warner fetched a sensational 70 from 44 balls to chase down the target in 14 overs. The duo smashed 13 boundaries and four maximums as Sri Lankan bowlers failed to take control over the openers. The bowlers stood no chance on the surface.
Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka captain on loss, said, "It's a day everything went wrong. The first game of the series; hoping we'll have better days. Batters will come up with a plan in the next game. We got a strong side, a matter of one win."
With Australia having a lead of 1-0, they will lock horns with the hosts again tomorrow. While Sri Lanka will look to improve and work to make it 1-1, Australia will look to seal the win by making it 2-0.