David Warner scored a brilliant 65 but he should have been out long before as Kusal Perera dropped a sitter when he was on 18.
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An absolute howler by Sri Lanka player Kusal Perera on the field led to Australian batter David Warner leading the charge and helping his team record a comfortable victory over the Lankan Lions on Thursday in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka were the first team to bat and they posted 154-6 in 20 overs. The Aussies scored 155-3 in just 17 overs. Warner scored a brilliant 65 but he should have been walking back to the pavilion long before that. Perera dropped a sitter when Warner was on 18 and had that catch been completed, fans might have been in for a much tighter run chase.
Openers Aaron Finch and David Warner gave the Aussies an extremely strong start to the chase. The duo constructed a 70-run partnership for the first wicket. Finch scored 37 runs off 23 deliveries in a knock that included five boundaries and a couple of maximums. Warner was indeed granted a second life in the match and he took complete advantage of it. The Aussie scored a fantastic half-century as he ended his innings with 65 runs off 42 deliveries. Surprisingly, Warner only dealt in boundaries and did not hit a single maximum.
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell was unimpressive with the bat on the day as he only made five runs. However, veteran batter Steve Smith played a steady knock, scoring an unbeaten 28 runs off 26 deliveries. Marcus Stoinis also remained not out as he played an explosive cameo, scoring 16 runs off just seven deliveries.
It was not a day to remember for the Sri Lankan bowling attack. They could only manage to get three wickets, which was never going to be good enough to beat a team like Australia. Wanindu Hasarnga, however, bowled a brilliant spell. He took a couple of wickets in four overs and conceded only 22 runs. Skipper Dasun Shanak picked one wicket and conceded six runs in one over.
The Sri Lankan batters did not actually have a bad game. On a surface like Dubai, they actually did fairly well to get to 154 runs in 20 overs. Opener Kusal Perera played a good knock, scoring 35 runs off 25 deliveries. He hit four boundaries and one maximum in the innings. Charith Asalanka kept his good run of form going as he also scored 35 runs. Asalanka hit four boundaries and one maximum as well but he took 27 deliveries. In the middle order, Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 33 runs off 36 deliveries and remained unbeaten until the end of the innings.
The Australian bowlers had a pretty good day in the match, as Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, and Mitchell Starc picked two wickets each. Zampa was the most economical as he recorded figures of 2-12 in four overs. Starc also had a good economy rate, conceding 27 runs in four overs. Cummins was a bit expensive as he conceded 43 runs in his spell of four overs.
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