World Cup 2019, As it happened: Starc, Finch star in Aussies 87-run win over Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka vs Australia Live Score, World Cup 2019: Latest updates from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 SL vs AUS match at Kennington Oval, London.
Published : Jun 15, 2019 11:13 IST
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the World Cup 2019 match between Sri Lanka and Australia at Kennington Oval, London. I'm Aashin and I'll be taking you through the first game of the day.
LIVE UPDATES
That is it from me for the night. The match report and the quotes will be up on the site shortly. My colleague Ayan Acharya will be bringing you the big one tomorrow -- India vs Pakistan. Do join us for that.
There's still more cricket left in the day but no humdinger. Afghanistan has been bowled out for 125 in a rain-curtailed match against South Africa in Cardiff. Here's Santadeep Dey bringing you the live action.
Finch led the way with the bat with a mammoth 153 before Starc's electric pace to run through Sri Lanka's middle order to earn Australia a facile win.
Seems like everyone is going through the motions here. Dhananjaya, it appears, is going for the audacious strokes to get bat on ball, but doesn't manage to find the fielders. But Pradeep does, He edges Cummins behind and the umpire raises the finger. Australia wins by 87 runs and moves top of the table.
Opportunity for Starc to finish things off with the final wicket and get another fifer of the tournament. No five wickets for Starc this time. He finishes with four for 56. SL 238/9 in 43 overs
WICKET! Richardson bowls it in the blockhole and Malinga somehow manages to dig it out to the cover fielder, Khawaja.
Sri Lanka will be left wondering how it lost its way from 87/0 in the first 10 overs to 236/8 in 40 overs. It has added 149 while losing 8 wickets in the next 30. Must say Finch has rotated the bowlers well after the early assault from SL openers.
SL 236/8 in 40 overs: Richardson adds one more to his tally! Udana skies a short one and Finch runs back behind from mid-off to grab a superb catch. Lasith Malinga in at No. 10.
SL 229/7 in 39 overs: Four wickets for Starcy! He bowls a half-volley on fifth stump line and Mendis goes for the booming drive but only ends up getting an edge through to Carey. Isuru Udana survives the hat-trick delivery.
Mendis is joined by Dhananjaya de Silva. Sri Lanka's chances looking bleak at the moment.
Thisara walks in and pulls Starc for a six first ball! Six and out! WICKET! Starc bowls a full delivery tailing in and Thisara mistimes him to mid-on, where Finch take a good catch on the run. SL 217/6 in 37 overs
The gamble fails spectacularly. WICKET! Starc bowls full on leg with pace and Siriwardana drags it onto his stumps!
A surprise choice at No. 6. Siriwardana walks in and maybe with the license to play his shots at will.. Seems like SL is preserving Thisara Perera for the last 10 overs.
WICKET! Sri Lanka is losing its way a bit in the chase. Cummins is back into the attack and he rewards his skipper with the wicket of Matthews. A well-directed short ball and it kisses Matthews' gloves on the pull shot as the ball sails into the hands of Carey.
SL 204/3 in 35 overs: Kusal Mendis slaps Starc right back over his head for a six! Mark Nicholas enjoyed that on the commentary. He follows it up with a single and 200 is up for the Lankans. Matthews plays a well-timed dab to a short delivery and the ball races behind square leg for a four. 11 from the over.
Glenn Maxwell finishes his 10 overs for 46 runs. Required rate is now at 8.87 rpo.
SL 190/3 in 33 overs: Angelo Matthews, who had two ducks in two innings so far in the World Cup, gets off the mark with a boundary down the ground.
WICKET! Karunaratne dismissed for 97... Richardson offers width on a short delivery and he cuts it aerially to only find the hands of Maxwell! He deserved a century there. A lucky break for Richardson and Australia.
Mendis breaks the boundary drought. He dances down the track and lofts Maxwell over the long-off fielder for a six. It was 49 balls since the last boundary.
SL 176/2 in 30 overs: Australian bowlers have pulled things back a bit. After 87 for no loss in 10 overs, Sri Lanka has only managed 89 for the loss of two in 20 overs. The required rate is at the door step of 8 rpo...
Karunaratne is into the 90s... five runs from Richardson's first over of his second spell.
SL 168/2 in 28 overs: This partnership will be crucial to Sri Lanka getting close to the target.
Sri Lanka clearly ahead after 25 overs of each innings. Sri Lanka is 156/2 while Australia was 110/2 after 25 overs.
SL 154/2 in 24 overs: WICKET! Thirimmane square drives Behrendorff behind point after being afforded width. Behrendorff brings his line a bit tighter this time and Karunaratne goes for a repeat shot, but only gets an outside edge to Carey. Kusal Mendis walks in at No. 4.
This is Karunaratne's highest ODI score. Can he lead the way with a big hundred? Australia is getting its fifth bowler problem out of the way early on today. Maxwell's seven overs only cost 32.
Four consecutive singles to end the 23rd over, Sri Lanka 145 for one. Lahiru Thirimanne is on 10 off 22 balls. He needs to up the ante to ensure Sri Lanka stays on course for the chase but also that Dimuth Karunaratne doesn't feel the pressure to go and play the big shots. Jason Behrendorff continues.
Just six runs off the last two overs, Sri Lanka 141 for one after 22 overs. Australia has restricted Sri Lanka in the last three-four overs, but it needs wickets to get ahead of the Islanders. Glenn Maxwell continues, set to bowl his seventh over.
Four runs off the 20th over. Jason Behrendorff excellent in his comeback over and Sri Lanka batsmen content to play to the merit of the ball. Sri Lanka 135 for one, needs a further 200 runs from 30 overs.
A four off the final ball of the 19th over, Sri Lanka 131 for one. Width given and short from Glenn Maxwell, Dimuth Karunaratne takes full advantage by finding the gap between short third man and backward point. A crucial phase in the match and this match has played it well since Kusal Perera's dismissal. Jason Behrendorff replaces Mitchell Starc.
A tight over from Mitchell Starc, who concedes just one run in the 18th over, Sri Lanka 123 for one. Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne happy to play out Starc, who's posing the biggest threat at the moment. The Sri Lankan pair is happy to sit in and soak in the pressure. Glenn Maxwell continues.
Sri Lanka 122 for one after 17 overs. Another tight over from Glenn Maxwell, but Sri Lanka is well ahead of the required run-rate. It needs a further 213 runs from 198 balls.
Four off the final ball of the 16th over and Sri Lanka is 120 for one . Australia has the breakthrough it was desperately after. Starc gets one to tail in with a bit of round-arm and Perera, who was hitting the ball with a straight bat, falls trying to whip this away a lot squarer. Karunaratne cashes in on a bit of room outside off-stump and gets a thick outside edge for four.
OUT! Mitchell Starc removes Kusal Perera with a full straight delivery on middle stump. Kusal Perera tries to go across the line and misses the line completely. Gone for 52 off 36. Dimuth Karunaratne is joined by Lahiru Thirimanne.
Six runs off the 15th over, Sri Lanka 112 for no loss. There's an air of confidence about the Sri Lankan openers now, particularly given the good fortune they have had. Karunaratne still holds the key with his game suited to the situation.
Half-century for Kusal Perera, brings it up off just 33 balls. He has batted with maturity and has not gone into overdrive. Sri Lanka 106 for no loss after 14 overs. A probing over from Mitchell Starc, who nailed a sharp, inswinging yorker which was kept out by Perera. Sri Lanka going along strongly.
100 up for Sri Lanka in the 13th over! Sri Lanka has had the rub of the green for much of its innings so far. Dimuth Karunaratne was plumb in front but Richard Illingworth, for some reason, doesn't put his finger up. Australia had lost its review and can't help itself on this occasion. Sri Lanka 102 for no loss.
SL 98/0 in 12 overs: Karunaratne moves to fifty with a pull off Richardson! The skipper is leading from the front.
My colleague Suhith tells me this is the same venue SL chased down 322 against India in the 3017 Champions Trophy. Can they add another memorable chase to its history at the Oval?
Finch turns to spin, but not his own magic arm but that of Maxwell. Both openers into the 40s.
This is now the highest powerplay score of the World Cup.
SL 87/0 in 10 overs: Kusal Perera is seeing Richardson's short pitched balls like a football I bet! He clubs the short ball over mid-wicket for a four! Aussies goes for a desperate DRS for a caught behind appeal, snicko says no edge. They lose their review.
SL 79/0 in 9 overs: Kusal with a six on the front foot over the covers! Sri Lanka will need more of that. Kusal goes for a risky single, Finch misses with his free-hit an the ball goes for four overthrows! The chase is well and truly on! Karunaratne clips Behrendorff behind for another four to end the over. 18 from the over.
This rain-marred week of World Cup needs a Kusal Perera special! And I need to see more of his pull shots!
Fifty up for Sri Lanka , Karunaratne gets couple of more boundaries, this time of Behrendorff, behind square.
Kusal Perera hasn't faced a ball since 3.3 overs. Karunaratne has been eating up some dot balls but he hasn't let the required rate creep up in the powerplay overs for Sri Lanka.
SL 40/0 in 6 overs: Mistimed pull and a streaky inside edge from Karunaratne runs down the boundary. Cummins is visibly frustrated.
SL 30/0 in 4 overs: Behrendorff replaces Starc at the start of the fifth over.
SL 24/0 in 2 overs: Kusal on the pull! Cummins erring in his line and Kusal is quick to pounce on it, crashing the bowler through mid-wicket for two boundaries. Sri Lanka off to a flying start here.
SL 12/0 in 1 over: Too short from Starc first up, Kusal and Karunaratne help themselves to boundaries through the point region.
Karunaratne and Kusal Perera open the innings. Mitchell Starc has the new ball in hand. 335 to get.
Sri Lanka innings
I will be back for the chase after a short break for my finger muscles. In the meantime, read this interview by Suhith Kumar with former ICC elite panel umpire Simon Tauffel, who shares his experience of the India-Pakistan hype .
Australia finishes with 334, Maxwell with a boundary to end the innings. Sri Lanka pulls things back in the last five overs conceding just 32 runs. Udana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. This will still require a herculean effort with the bat from Sri Lanka to chase this total down.
Just one over left, Maxwell on strike against Thisara.
Run-out! Superb from Udana! Udana stops the ball on his follow-through with a dive as Carey is almost half-way through.Udana gets up quickly and strikes the stumps before Maxwell could get back in! Another run-out of his own bowling! Cummins digs out a yorker back and tries to get off strike. Udana is on the ball and hits the stumps as Cummins retreats. Australia seven down.
AUS 318/5 in 48 overs: Seven from Malinga's last.
Better length from Sri Lanka in the last two overs conceding just 8 runs, including a wicket.
Alex Carey enters in at No. 7.
WICKET! Marsh didn't get going at all and he goes after a wide, slower ball from Udana and ends up holing out to deep mid-wicket!
Maxwell striking at over 250. Oooff.
AUS 302/4 in 45 overs: Maxwell takes Pradeep to the cleaners. A forgettable day for the Lankan whose 10 overs fetch 88 runs for no wicket. Maxwell takes 22 from that over: 4, 6, 0, 4, 4, 4
AUS 280/4 in 44 overs: Shaun Marsh is the new man in.
WICKET! What a beauty!! Malinga from around the wicket angles a yorker onto Smith's off-stump. The former Aussie skipper plays all around it and loses his off-stump. Only a brilliant delivery like that could have stopped Smith today, who seemed unbreachable from the previous 58 deliveries he faced today.
WICKET! Finch makes room to hit another boundary but only manages to top edge Udana to the cover fielder. He is dismissed for 153. 'The Big Show' Maxwell is in at No. 5. Perfect platform set for him with seven overs left.
150 for Finch! Clears his front foot to make room and smacks Malinga to the mid-wicket boundary. Smith with a meaty six to finish the over; the ball making a sweet sound off the bat before sailing into the crowds!
AUS 255/2 in 41 overs: Smith joins the party now and Nuwan Pradeep is getting a beating at the moment. Four boundaries, two each from Smith and Finch, from the over.
AUS 237/2 in 40 overs: Finch swats a Thisara delivery from offside to behind the deep square leg boundary for a six! That was a mistimed shot! The Aussie skipper follows it up with a crunching square cut past the point region for a four. He now moves onto the 130s. He has enough time to get to a maiden 200. Will he get there?
Smith moves to his 22nd ODI fifty. Finch is muscling the ball through the offside. Udana and Thisara coming in for some punishment.
200 up for Australia in the 36th over.
Australia moving at a good rate now and 350 should be on the cards. 35 overs gone and its 195/2. Drinks taken. Batting of Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey left to come.
AUS 185/2 in 33 overs: What a way to bring up your hundred! Finch lofts Siriwardana over long-off with a glorious drive on the up for a six. That's his 14th ODI century and his first against Sri Lanka. The Aussie skipper kisses the badge on his helmet and acknowledges his dressing room.
Poor, poor stuff from Sri Lanka. Just three fielders inside the circle, the umpire calls for a no-ball and a free hit. Malinga hits the mark with his yorker and Finch can only dig it out to the mid-on fielder.
AUS 168/2 in 31 overs: Malinda Siriwardana, who last bowled in ODIs in October 2017, is welcomes into the attack with a boundary by Smith. Smith nearly chops one onto his stumps by reaching out for a cover drive!
I wonder how Khawaja and Smith will be used in the World Cup going forward. Do batting positions matter? Smith's best position is No. 3: 2,551 runs in 55 innings at an average of 52.06, with seven hundreds. Khawaja, meanwhile, has batted there 13 times for just 257 runs.
AUS 152/2 in 29 overs: Finch has had enough of playing out Dhananjaya's offies. 4, 6, 6 from the first three balls! Sweep behind short fine leg, followed by towering sixes straight over long-on! Finch moves to 91 off 87 balls!
AUS 110/2 in 24 overs: Just as I write that Finch muscles a short ball behind square leg and over the boundary ropes for a six!
Australia has scored just one boundary since the end of powerplay.
WICKET! Dhananjaya strikes again! Khawaja goes for a the sweep but it's not under control and the ball goes into the hands of Udana at deep mid-wicket. He falls for just 10 runs. The pressure created by the bowlers in the last eight overs reaps just reward! Steve Smith joins Finch.
Better from Sri Lankan bowlers. Just 21 runs from the last seven overs. A loud appeal as Pradeep beats the outside edge of Khawaja but it doesn't take the edge.
FIFTY for Finch, 24th in ODI cricket! He gets to the mark in 53 balls.
Usman Khawaja promoted to No. 3.
AUS 80/1 in 16 overs: WICKET! He doesn't make it count today after the cautious start. Offie Dhananjaya de Silva gets one to drift back in after pitching it slight short. Warner goes for the cut but misses and has his stumps rearranged!
We really are seeing a new side to Warner as an opener in recent times. He isn't the slasher of old and the one we saw during the IPL in a couple of months back. He is more circumspect in his approach before he makes up for in the latter part of the inning. Today, he is batting on 26 off 46 balls.
AUS 76/0 in 15 overs: Sri Lanka's bowling has looked a bit toothless today unlike the sword-wielding lion from SLC's logo. They haven't troubled the Aussie openers, who have struck nine boundaries between them.
AUS 63/0 in 12 overs: Back to live action and Thisara Perera hits Finch's pad on the front foot. The umpire turns down a big appeal and Sri Lanka reviews the call. It's certainly pad first but the impact is umpire's call, Rihchard Illingworth deemed that the ball was striking Finch's pad outside the off-stump.
Thanks for covering me, Lavanya. I, too, remember the 'spring bat' rumour and grade 5 Aashin hoped that the final would be replayed. But fair play to Punter. That was a phenomenal knock! Handing the blog over back to Aashin now.
We've spotted Ricky Ponting in the Australian dressing room. I still remember when the Aussies beat India in the 2003 final in Johannesburg. Were you one of the people who fell for the spring bat rumour? I was. Grade 3 Lavanya would fervently discuss conspiracy theories surrounding India's loss. Heartbroken back then, wiser now. Australia crosses 50 with a boundary from Finch. It's the fourth fifty-plus stand in five matches between Finch and Warner in the tournament.
Udana had collided with the fence earlier giving us all a slight scare. He came over to bowl the last over and seems fine. Good news for the Lankan bowling arsenal. Finch has been a delight to watch today. So many beautiful shots over long on and long off. Warner has been punching through the covers. Neat textbook shots. Hello all. Aashin is currently crunching numbers for us and so it's me Lavanya taking over for a while. It's a welcome change blogging about cricket for a while, after all the Women's World Cup coverage. It's been a relaxed start to the day with some good batting available to watch. No complaints. My favourite part of this entire tournament has got to be how all of us in the newsroom have had to acquire a weather analysis skillset. We have been speaking more about humidity, precipitation and cloud cover than boundaries, footwork and wickets here at the Sportstar desk. Who would have thought! I don't think we appreciate the broadcasting innovation sport has seen enough. Look at those cameras. I just caught a glimpse of the skies from the stump camera behind Finch. What a frame! AUS 33/0 in 7 overs: It's been a slow start to the innings so far. We think Finch heard us. Beautiful straight drive that. Finch is in good touch and it shows.
AUS 17/0 in 4 overs: The Aussie openers are only dealing in boundaries here. Finch clips Pradeep through the mid-wicket region and Isuru Udana puts in a dive to keep the ball in play but fails to do so. It appears the left-arm pacer has hurt his left shoulder in the process. He receives medical attention and is taken off the field.
A maiden from Malinga.
AUS 12/0 in 2 overs: Finch looks to be in sublime touch. He punches Pradeep through the covers and straight down the ground for two boundaries.
AUS 4/0 in 1 over: Lasith Malinga begins proceedings with the new ball to David Warner. Just one wide first slip in place. Warner slips Malinga between mid-wicket and mid-on fielders, and the ball races to the boundary.
Australia innings
The teams are out for the national anthems.
Six matches (including the warm-ups), six lost tosses for Finch. Don't know how but looks like Kohli has passed on his losing streak to the Aussie skipper.
Aaron Finch: Still haven't won one (toss in the World Cup). I would have bowled first as well. We haven't played out best cricket yet with the bat. We have batted well in patches. But, its building up nicley. We have good experience in the team. We have to be bit careful (today), a bit of discipline with the bat early on. Nathan Coulter-Nile is a bit stiff so he sits out. Jason Behrendorff replaces him.
Dimuth Karunaratne: Last few days it has rained. So we got to take advantage of the moisture. Nuwan Pradeep is fit to play. He is bowling really well. Suranga Lakmal isn't playing. Milinda Siriwardana comes in place of him. When we get a break like that we need to focus and train hard. We are going to play top teams in the next few games.
Playing XIs Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Kane Richardson Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera (wk), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga |
TOSS: Sri Lanka wins toss, elects to bowl
PITCH REPORT: Outstanding batting pitch. Don't be fooled by the tinge of green on the wicket. That means we will have a little bit of extra pace and extra bounce, which will allow high-scoring game. Excess of 300 achievable on this wicket.
It's bright and sunny out there at the Kennigton Oval and we should have a full game with Sri Lanka desperately needing a win against a ferocious Australia. Stay tuned as we bring you the toss and team news in just a while.
The Preview: World Cup 2019: Desperate Sri Lanka faces Australia storm
After two washed out games, Sri Lanka will be desperate to come out all guns blazing but defending champion Australia’s depth will be hard to beat when the two sides clash in a World Cup league fixture on Saturday.
Sri Lanka has not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
The island nation, which won the World Cup in 1996, stands fifth with just one win — against minnow Afghanistan in a rain-hit match — from four games.
Defending champion Australia, on the other hand, has been unstoppable with its loss against India being the only blemish in an otherwise professional performance so far in the tournament. | Points Table
Squads Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wkt), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh and Kane Richardson. Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana and Jeffrey Vandersay. Match starts at 3pm (IST) |
Follow our ICC 2019 World Cup coverage
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Aaron Finch: We've not played our best cricket so far
Australia is comfortably placed on the points table with three wins from four matches at the World Cup but skipper Aaron Finch feels his team has played nowhere near its potential. At the top of the order, Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith have big scores to their name.
But the middle order has yet to fire — with Marcus Stoinis’s side strain that will keep him out of the Sri Lanka clash at the Oval on Saturday not helping matters.
SWOT analysis: Australia eyes redemption after troubled year
While in the bowing department, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc remain two of the world's best but behind them spots are still up for grabs.
But with so much cricket still to come, Finch is confident that its best cricket is just around the corner.
Know your 2019 World Cup venue: Kennington Oval, London
“I don’t think we have gone anything near our best which is still a good thing. We have six points on the board but are not playing anywhere near our best cricket which is a real positive,” said Finch here on Friday.
“But as long as we are improving and continue to go up and not backwards, I think that is the key.” ( Read More )
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ICC rejects Sri Lanka World Cup complaints of 'cramped bus, poor pitches, no pool'
World Cup organisers have been forced to defend the quality of the tournament's pitches and facilities after reports of an official complaint from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka team manager Ashantha de Mel claimed the International Cricket Council has given certain World Cup teams preferential treatment at the expense of his side.
Launching an angry attack on the ICC ahead of Sri Lanka's match against defending champion Australia on Saturday, de Mel blasted the quality of pitches, practice facilities, transport and accommodation at the World Cup in England and Wales.
SWOT analysis: Sri Lanka aiming to rise above chaos
“This is a World Cup where the top ten countries are taking part and I feel that all the participants should be treated equally,” de Mel was quoted as saying by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News. ( Read More )
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World Cup 2019: Beware of Warner, he is nearing his best, says Ponting
David Warner has overcome the challenges of reintegrating himself into the Australian team and with the explosive opener nearing his best, he could well end up as top scorer in this World Cup, feels assistant coach Ricky Ponting.
After struggling for rhythm in early matches, Warner came close to his damaging best in a match-winning knock of 107 off 111 balls against Pakistan on Wednesday in his fourth game back in Australian colours.
Asked if other sides will now be more fearful of Warner, including Sri Lanka whom Australia face on Friday, Ponting said: “I think they should. You know with David Warner at his best, if you miss your line and length then he’s going to make you pay. ( Read More )
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.