Another Day Another Successful Run Chase As Australia Beat Sri Lanka By 7 Wickets

Another day in the T20 World Cup and yet another successful run chase meant Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets on Thursday in Dubai International Stadium. 

Chasing 155, the Aussies were off to a wonderful start, given by openers Aaron Finch and David Warner. The duo made full use of the powerplay restrictions and hammered 63 runs. 

Finch made 37 off 23 balls before Wanindu Hasaranga got the breakthrough in the seventh over. Warner got his rhythm back, thanks to Kusal Perera's drop early in the innings. The left-handed opener went on to make 65 from 42 balls with the help of ten fours. 

Glenn Maxwell had an off day with both bat as well as the ball; scored 5 off 6 and conceded 16 in the only over he bowled. 

Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis finished off the game in 17 overs to get Australia the second win of the Super 12 stage. 

Earlier, on being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka was off to a flier despite losing Pathum Nissanka early. Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka added 63 runs for the second wicket in 44 balls. Asalanka smashed 35 off 27 balls while Perera hit 35 off 25 balls. 

Adam Zampa's economical spell of 2/12 in four overs kept things tight in the middle overs as Sri Lanka lost the run-scoring momentum. 

Bhanuka Rajapaksa's unbeaten 33 helped Sri Lanka post 154/6 at the end of the 20 overs. Apart from Zampa, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins also got two wickets each. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Sri Lanka - 154/6 
Australia - 155/3 in 17 overs