Welcome to the highlights of the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 match between Australia and Sri Lanka. This was Santadeep Dey , bringing you all the action as it unfolded at the Dubai International Stadium .
HIGHLIGHTS
RESULT: Australia beats Sri Lanka by seven wickets to register four points alongside England in Group 1. Click here for the Points Table.
AUSTRALIA INNINGS
AUS 155/3 in 17 overs: Equation - 15 off 24. If Stoinis and Smith want, they can get it done in this over itself. Flat and hard... SIX! The BBL's top-scorer since 2018, Stoinis, has had enough. One hit away now, are the Aussies. A cracking stroke from Stoinis for four serves as the perfect conclusion to this thrilling match.
AUS 143/3 in 16 overs: Stand and deliver! Stoinis thumps Karunaratne down the ground and follows up with a wicked smile. Wide... That was way, way above Smith's head.
AUS 130/3 in 15 overs: Shanaka into the attack for the first time tonight. Can he turn things around for SL? The required rate has come down under 5 now as Shanaka overcooks a variation to bowl a no ball. Meanwhile, the fifty-run partnership comes up off 40 deliveries. WICKET!Warner departs for 65 as he picks out Rajapaksa in the deep.
AUS 124/2 in 14 overs: Through mid-wicket for four as Warner pounces on another slower one from Chameera. Bludgeoned. Again. This time through sweeper cover.
AUS 112/2 in 13 overs: Australia seems to be wary of Hasaranga. Four off the over with a dot to finish.
AUS 108/2 in 12 overs: Warner plays against the turn but makes it look so effortless as he picks up a boundary off Theekshana. Fifty up for Warner. His last half-century in Twenty cricket came in the IPL in April.
AUS 100/2 in 11 overs: Australia requires a run a ball now. It was impressive how Justin Langer decided to promote Maxwell to No. 3. Shows the aggressive approach, considering how crucial NRR is in tournaments like these. No ball signaled by Illingworth. A close call as replays would suggest though. Australia enters the triple figures.
AUS 95/2 in 10 overs: Australia is scoring at a rate of 9.05 RPO. 6.65 is the required rate. Smith has put the slower one away through extra cover. Four! Warner ends the over on a high with a wallop through deep mid-wicket for four more. Time for the drinks break.
AUS 82/2 in 9 overs: Maxwell goes for his go-to reverse sweep; four runs. This is only the fourth ball he has faced. Maxwell holes out to Avishka at deep mid-wicket. Big, big wicket, this! Smith is at the crease.
AUS 76/1 in 8 overs: Warner's in the groove, alright! Swatted through deep mid-wicket for four. Is this the day he proves his doubters wrong?
AUS 70/1 in 7 overs: The gap keeps getting wider and wider. This was a half tracker and Warner pulls it away to glory in front of square. Chopped on! A sublime knock of 37 off 23 from the Australia skipper comes to an end. Almost another as Maxwell gets one off the inside of the bat. SL with a spring in its step.
AUS 63/0 in 6 overs: Theekshana is back. Warner gets four more. Too short and it just hangs around Warner's arc to be hit. An enthusiastic appeal for leg before for Finch has been turned down by Dar. End of PowerPlay.
AUS 56/0 in 5 overs: Over long-on and through the line, goes Finch. It is a six. With that, he becomes only the fifth batsman to reach 2,500 T20I runs. Four more... Finch is striking it at 220! Fifty up in quick time for Australia. An opportunity goes abegging as Perera drops a dolly. Chameera was already celebrating and Illingworth had half-raised his finger as Warner gloved one. You cannot afford these errors especially with the opposition going hammer and tongs after every bowler. Chameera has bowled halfway down the on-side. My, oh, my... a costly slip, maybe the dew was at play. It is a no ball.
AUS 43/0 in 4 overs: Kumara gets away with a full toss first up. Finch, however, charges down to drive a 148kph delivery through the ground for four. It gets better! A 66m six off the next widish, short delivery. Bottom edge and a streaky boundary for Warner. Warner muscles another boundary straight down the track past the bowler. 20 comes off that over.
AUS 23/0 in 3 overs: A powerful drive sees Finch register four more off Chameera's bowling. Warner goes aerial, mistimed but somehow makes it dip in no man's land.
AUS 15/0 in 2 overs: Theekshana has been summoned early to check the Aussie intent. However, Warner makes his intentions clear with a reverse sweep for four over short third. Warner gets sent back while searching for a non-existent single off the last.
AUS 9/0 in 1 over: We're back for what promises to be an exciting the chase! Finch and Warner walk out to the centre. Karunaratne opens the attack with Warner on strike. Warner gets off strike with a single towards square leg. Finch gets two boundaries, rides on top of the bounce to hammer it square on the off-side.
TARGET: Australia needs 155 to win
SRI LANKA INNINGS
SL 154/6 in 20 overs: Sloppy work from Cummins in the deep sees Rajapaksa pick up a boundary off the first ball of the last over. With a single towards long-off, Karunaratne takes Sri Lanka past 150. Wide - too high down leg side. The second leg-bye of the over comes off the fourth delivery.
SL 144/6 in 19 overs: Starc sends in a toe-crusher to Rajapaksa. You won't see a finer shot than that. Karunaratne lofts it over the bowler's head to pick up a boundary.
SL 135/6 in 18 overs: Cummins starts off with a wide. Shanaka creams one through cover for four. Another wicket goes down as Cummins responds well after being hit for a thunderous boundary off the previous delivery for the second time tonight. Change of length and pace and Shanaka slices it into the night sky. Comfortable take for Wade.
SL 128/5 in 17 overs: The Lankans will look to target Stoinis., who is now bowling his third. Consecutive boundaries from Rajapaksa - swept and slapped past backward square leg. Lip-smacking! He has just followed it up with a huge maximum downtown.
SL 111/5 in 16 overs: Cummins is mixing it up well to trouble the Lankans, who are finding it difficult to pick the slower bouncer.
SL 105/5 in 15 overs: Wickets have changed the course of the game. The runs have started to dry up even as Hazlewood comes back into the attack. Rajapaksa gets a couple wristing one towards the on-side. Crunched! There's no way anybody was getting to that. A slower delivery from Hazlewood and a free-flowing throw of the arms from Rajapaksa brings up a boundary and the 100 for SL.
SL 97/5 in 14 overs: Zampa to bowl out. Shanaka manages to get a single off the fifth ball after he went for a big swing and got beaten off the previous delivery.
SL 95/5 in 13 overs: Edged and taken by Wade! Hasaranga goes for a review straightaway. Why though? The Snicko shows a clear spike as the ball passes the bat. Starc strikes. A slip has been brought in now for new man in, Shanaka.
SL 90/4 in 12 overs: Close! Rajapaksa misses all of a Zampa delivery turning away from him. Avishka departs as Australia continues to find its way back into the game. Entices him to go after a flighted delivery, does Zampa, and this has been played straight into the hands of Smith again.
SL 88/3 in 11 overs: Starc to Perera. OUT! Cleans him up with a beauty. Perera tonks Starc for a massive six over long-on and he comes with the perfect reply. Full and straight, the ball zips through Perera's defence to smash the stumps. Rajapaksa in at 5. This is menacing from Starc. He welcomes the batter with a couple of vicious yorkers, right in the blockhole. Rajapaksa does well to ward off the danger.
SL 79/2 in 10 overs: Asalanka holes out to the man in the deep. Zampa gets the googly on the full and Asalanka plays against the turn from outside off. He gets the top-edge on it and the ball flies to Smith. A wicket against the run of play and the Aussies will take 'em either way.
SL 75/1 in 9 overs: Perera munches on the juicy wide deliveries that Stoinis rolls in. He crunches it with a swat through cover and follows up with an equally powerful shot off an over-pitched delivery. Australia has been pushed on the back-foot and how!
SL 64/1 in 8 overs: Zampa gets the wrong'un to thud into Perera's pads. There is an optimistic appeal but umpire Richard Illingworth isn't interested. 'Keeper Wade says it was turning a bit much, which sees Finch not going for the review. Hawk-Eye shows it would have gone on to miss the stumps. Excellent call.
SL 60/1 in 7 overs: Stoinis pitches it wide first up and Asalanka reaches out to muscle it over cover. An alert Maxwell will keep it down to a single though. The SL batters keep the scoreboard ticking with the singles and doubles.
SL 53/1 in 6 overs: Cummins pitches up the third delivery and Starc makes a good stop at mid-on. The Australian vice-captain is coming round the wicket now. A top-edge as Perera swivels. Unlucky for AUS, that runs down to the ropes. The fifty's up for SL even as the PowerPlay comes to an end.
SL 46/1 in 5 overs: Hazlewood returns. Electric stop from Maxwell at cover point as he saves a few runs. Hazlewood tries the cutter off his third, which asks some tough questions of the batter. Another boundary for Asalanka straight down the ground.
SL 41/1 in 4 overs: "Hello Maxi, goodbye Maxi!" The first ball from Maxwell has disappeared for a maximum. There's a bit of flight and Aslanka unleashes the slog sweep. Four now, swept again... followed by five wides down the leg side; nothing's going Australia's way right now. SL looking AUS in the eye.
SL 25/1 in 3 overs: Cummins replaces Starc. Slip in place but Nissanka goes for a devil-may-care flick towards square leg for a maximum. And he is gone off the very next delivery! Miscues while trying to go over mid-off and Warner pouches a sitter. Asalanka, who played an instrumental knock against Bangladesh a few days ago, joins Perera. And that's a shot of a man in form! Goes after Cummins straightaway; pulling one over square leg for four. Things get worse for the Aussies as umpire Aleem Dar signals a no ball. Asalanka picks another boundary of the free hit.
SL 11/0 in 2 overs: Hazlewood to share the new, hard ball. Starts with an exceptional 141kph fuller delivery channeled onto Nissanka's off stump. Takes the pace off the ball, off the fourth, does Hazlewood but an alert Perera sees the Lankans register a quick run. The first four of the innings comes off Perera's blade. Sets himself up for the length ball and swings his bat across.
SL 6/0 in 1 over: A hint of swing as Starc gets the ball to nip into the right-handed Nissanka. He is off the mark with a nudge towards cover. Perera heaves a sigh of relief as an outside edge sails wide of backward point. Wide! Starc, in search of the magic delivery, strays down leg.
Nissanka to take strike. Perera is SL's other designated opener. Starc has the new ball in hand. Let's play!
- 07:24 PM IST: Time for the national anthems, ladies and gentlemen! Sri Lanka is up first.
PLAYING XI
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (w), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana
WHAT THEY SAID
Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka skipper: We would have bowled first as well, yes. The boys are prepared. Maheesh Theekshana is fit and comes in for Binura Fernando .
Aaron Finch, Australia captain: We'll have a bowl, mate. Looks like a really nice wicket. We'll try and defend early and chase it down later. Everybody is fit, so we are going with the same team .
TOSS
Australia has won the toss and elected to field
PITCH REPORT
"Same pitch as India vs Pakistan. The dimensions are 76m and 64m square of the wicket on either side. If you drag your length back as a bowler, it becomes difficult to score. Captains like to chase here," reckon Alan Wilkins and Dale Steyn.
- 4:20 PM IST:Good news for all the Oz fans out there...
MATCH PREVIEW
Australia will face Sri Lanka in Dubai on Thursday to strengthen its position in the points table as the scramble for the semifinal spots picks up pace in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup.
Both teams won their respective last matches, albeit in contrasting fashion. Australia scraped through after an outstanding bowling performance against South Africa, while Sri Lanka rode on Charith Asalanka's unbeaten 80 and Bhanuka Rajapaksa's 53 from 31 balls to win against Bangladesh after being 79-4 in its chase of 172.
For Australia, Aaron Finch and David Warner will continue opening despite struggling for runs. Matthew Wade has backed them to come good. "I don't see a lack of form at all. They're terrific players. They're just short of runs. To be honest, guys that are world-class players for as long as they have been in this format are never out of form. They're just short of runs at the moment," Wade said on Wednesday.
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ALSO READ | T20 World Cup: The dew factor and the toss
Marcus Stoinis and Wade played crucial cameos in the lower order in the first Super 12 encounter and are likely to retain their batting positions.
But if the top three fire in unison, Glenn Maxwell and either Stoinis or Wade could be sent ahead of Steve Smith, who batted at No. 4 against South Africa.
Meanwhile, Australia will be pleased with the way Josh Hazlewood bowled in the PowerPlay. Maxwell's four overs are a bonus.
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Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur has confirmed that spinner Maheesh Theekshana will play if fit. "He's improved tremendously. So we'll warm him up tomorrow; and if everything goes well, he'll be playing," Arthur said. Lahiru Kumara might ask probing questions of a wobbly Australian top-order with his pace.
The match between India and Pakistan and then West Indies and South Africa showed that there are runs on offer in Dubai if batters temper their batting approach according to conditions. The change of pace will be key for bowlers and the team bowling second will also have to contend with dew.
- Ayan Acharya
AUS vs SL PREDICTED XI
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera (wk), Pethum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara
AUS vs SL DREAM11 PREDICTION
Wicketkeepers – Kusal Perera
Batters – Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Bhanuka Rajapaksa
All-rounders – Glenn Maxwell (c) , Marcus Stoinis, Wanindu Hasaranga (vc)
Bowlers – Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana
Team Composition: AUS 6:5 SL Credits left: 1.5
AUS vs SL HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS
Span: 2007-2021
Matches: 16
Won: Australia - 8, Sri Lanka - 8
In T20 WCs: Australia - 1, Sri Lanka - 2
Highest Score (AUS) vs SL: 263
Lowest Score (AUS) vs SL: 102
Highest Score (SL) vs AUS: 198
Lowest Score (SL) vs AUS: 87
STARS OF THE FIXTURE (OVERALL)
SQUADS
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando.
WHERE TO WATCH T20 WORLD CUP 2021 - AUSTRALIA vs SRI LANKA SUPER 12 LIVE?
The AUS vs SL match will be aired LIVE on Star Sports 1 , Star Sports 1 HD , Star Sports 1 Hindi , Star Sports 1 Hindi HD , Star Sports 1 Tamil , Star Sports 1 Telugu and Star Sports 1 Kannada . The match will also be live streamed on Hotstar .
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