Australia’s bowlers finally came through, dismissing Sri Lanka for 209 runs in 43.3 overs to give themselves a great chance of winning their first match of the ICC World Cup.
Sri Lanka went from 125/0 to losing all their wickets in less than 100 runs in an almighty collapse in Lucknow on Monday.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa led the way with four wickets in the middle, but the early breakthroughs were made by Australian captain Pat Cummins.
The right-arm pacer dismissed both Sri Lankan openers – Pathum Nissanka (61 runs off 67 balls) and Kusal Perera (78 runs off 82 balls) – after the Australians were fielded.
At this stage it looked like Sri Lanka would score well over 300 and put a decent total on the board, as they had done in the first two matches, but only Charith Asalanka managed to reach double figures (25 runs off 39 balls) while the rest collapsed.
The Australian bowlers kept up the pressure, but much of that came from poor batting from Sri Lanka, known for having a shaky batting order.
Missing their regular skipper Dasun Shanaka due to injury, Kusal Mendis, who will lead the Lankans for the remainder of the World Cup, managed just nine runs from 13 balls, despite being in good form with the bat two half-centuries from this match.
For the Australian bowlers, Mitchell Starc continued to take wickets as he claimed two more in his quota of 10 overs and the left-arm pacer appears to be the highest wicket-taker in the history of the Cup. world.
Starc is on 54 wickets in just 21 matches and is fifth on the all-time list with Glenn McGrath (71 wickets in 39 matches), Muttiah Muraritharan (68 wickets in 40 matches), Lasith Malinga (56 wickets in 29 matches) and Wasim Akram (55 wickets in 38 matches).
