Australia maintained their 100 per cent record in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with an emphatic seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Dubai on Thursday.
Chasing 155 to victory, the Aussie opener David Warner led the way with 65 runs off just 42 balls. He got out in the 15th over, when Australia needed only 25 runs to win.
After the first innings, Sri Lanka (154/6) looked competitive on a sluggish pitch, but their bowlers failed to pick wickets in the powerplay overs and Warner, Aaron Finch (37) capitalised.
Earlier, Charith Asalanka (35) and Kusal Perera (35) guided Sri Lanka to 78/2 in the first 10 overs. But they missed the opportunity of taking their side to a big total as Adam Zampa (2-12) heaped the pressure on the batters, and they staggered to 94/5.
Thanks to a quickfire 33 from Bhanuka Rajapaksa that Dasun Shanaka & Co. gave bowlers something to defend.
For Australia, Steve Smith (28 not out) and Marcus Stoinis (16 not out) finished the job after Finch, Warner and Glenn Maxwell’s dismissal.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Ominous signs for Aus with #DavidWarner back in https://t.co/FtWCgNvOYo out for the men in yellow #AUSvSL #T20WorldCup
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) October 28, 2021
The openers fired. So happy to see Davey back in the runs. Just yesterday he said he laughs at the people talking about his form. On ya Aussies! 2 from 2. #AUSvSL #T20WorldCup
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) October 28, 2021
Back to business #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/jPAGc9DSnq
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 28, 2021
Warner and Zampa the big pluses for Australia. Warner's form is critical for Australia's progress at the #ICCT20WorldCup . And Zampa for me is the player of the match today.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 28, 2021
Two in two for Australia ✌️
#T20WorldCup | #AUSvSL | https://t.co/dkIIjDEJLc pic.twitter.com/Xv8KlB4f0I— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) October 28, 2021
Player of the Match is Adam Zampa! 🙌#T20WorldCup #Australia https://t.co/GBNPivFHrM
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 28, 2021
Not finished @davidwarner31 . #DavidWarner #T20WorldCup #AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/STT9ptst1l
— Ayushman Chaudhary (@Im_ayushman05) October 28, 2021
Australia winning in style and with the top order starting to fire they are starting to look very good.
NRR improves further for them.— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) October 28, 2021
David Warner departs for a brilliant 65 in 42 balls. A much needed knock for him after dip in form.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 28, 2021
Most T20I Wickets for #Australia
(Matches)56 – Adam Zampa* (52)
55 – Mitchell Starc (43)
48 – Shane Watson (58)
47 – Andrew Tye (32)
42 – Ashton Agar (39)
40 – Pat Cummins (32)#T20WorldCup #AUSvSL— Shivam Jaiswal 🇮🇳 ❤️ (@7jaiswalshivam) October 28, 2021
Not the result we wanted, but now it’s time to recover well and focus on the next game! 👊#RoaringForGlory #ApeKollo pic.twitter.com/aicmT6vyA8
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) October 28, 2021
10 matches played – Chasing team leads 9-1. This pattern needs to change soon to make it interesting. #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/lQkMKpQDxv
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) October 28, 2021
