Australia’s Spencer Johnson celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis during the first ODI cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Australia’s bowling attack took charge as they removed the top batting order of Sri Lanka in the first innings of the first ODI international on Wednesday (February 12, 2025).

Australia’s Spencer Johnson and Aaron Hardie bagged two wickets each while Sean Abbott managed to get one wicket.

Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to bat in the first of the two-match one-day international series against Australia on Wednesday.

The series will be a warmup for the Australians ahead of the Champions Trophy to be played later this month in Pakistan. Sri Lanka did not qualify for the tournament.

Australia rested front-line players Travis Head, Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell. Sri Lanka made one change from its last ODI against New Zealand in Auckland in January — Dunith Wellalage replaced Chamindu Wickramasinghe.

Lineups

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (captain), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando

Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cooper Connolly, Steve Smith (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

Australia’s Usman Khawaja leaves the ground after losing his wicket during day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lanka was staring down the barrel at 44-3 after Australia achieved its largest ever total in Asia — 654-6 declared — on day two of the first test on Thursday.

Fatigued after spending five and a half sessions fielding under the scorching sun, Sri Lanka’s batting resistance was minimal.

Oshada Fernando was the first to fall for 7, trapped leg before by Matthew Kuhnemann, setting the tone for a challenging evening.

Former captains Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews didn’t last long either, both victims of Australia’s exceptional fielding.

Karunaratne fell on 7 to a spectacular catch at gully off Mitchell Starc, and Mathews was dismissed for 7 in stunning fashion — caught by Travis Head from bat-pad to Nathan Lyon’s off-spin.

Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis weathered some testing moments to reach stumps as Sri Lanka remain precariously placed at 610 runs down with three days to go on a deteriorating pitch.

“We are far too behind in the game at the moment,” Sri Lanka leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay said. “I don’t think there’s too much on the wicket. They had clear plans against all our spinners. The important thing is to get closer to their total. We should not focus on reaching the follow-on.” Australia resumed the day on 330-2 with opener Usman Khawaja and stand-in captain Steve Smith already on centuries.

Smith, who passed 10,000 test runs on day one, pushed on to a masterful 141 off 251 balls. His 266-run stand with Khawaja stands as the highest third-wicket partnership in tests between the teams.

They eclipsed the previous best stand of 200 between Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn in Kandy in 2004.

After Smith was trapped leg before by Vandersay, Khawaja remained unruffled, rotating the strike superbly and punishing loose deliveries with precision. He went on to his maiden double century and Josh Inglis became the 21st Australian to score a century on debut.

Khawaja’s eight-hour-plus knock of 232 off 352 balls was historic — the first Australian to score a double hundred in Sri Lanka. His is Australia’s highest individual test score against Sri Lanka. At 38, he’s second only to Don Bradman to score a double century for Australia. Khawaja edged behind to slow left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya.

“Usman Khawaja was patient and waited for the loose balls and swept so well,” Vandersay said. “Josh Inglis showed lot of intent as well and it’s tough to contain when they are stepping out of the crease and putting us under pressure.” Inglis wasted no time asserting himself, taking on the bowlers and racing to his century off just 90 deliveries, the second fastest for a men’s debut. India’s Shikhar Dhawan took 85 balls in 2013 against Australia. Inglis’ attacking approach, combined with Khawaja’s measured brilliance, combined for 146 runs for the fourth wicket, cementing Australia’s dominance.

Inglis made 102 off 94 balls, also edging Jayasuriya behind.

“I tried to be proactive and put bowlers under pressure,” Inglis said. “If you are stuck for three to four balls, the next ball will probably have your name in it.”

The England-born Inglis has played for Australia in one-day internationals and Twenty20s since 2022, and said he owed his parents a lot for moving from Yorkshire to Perth in 2010.

“Whenever we play England, everyone in the dressing room is asking what anthem I am going to sing. It’s a good one,” he said. “You can’t choose where you were born. It’s part of my story.”

While Australia made merry on a placid surface, signs of turn emerged late on day two, offering a glimmer of hope for the spinners. The pitch is expected to deteriorate further, making survival increasingly difficult – especially with Australia boasting three specialist spinners.

Sri Lanka signed off from the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup with an impressive 12-run victory over Australia here on Wednesday.

Australia had already qualified for the semi-finals ahead of Sri Lanka but were unable to carry their unbeaten record into the last four.

Chamudi Praboda led an impressive bowling attack that took wickets at regular intervals. Australia were not allowed to build any momentum in their chase of 100.

With Australia requiring 20 from the final over, Sri Lanka held their nerve to seal a memorable victory.

Sri Lanka were also restricted by a strong performance from Australian bowlers, as Lily Bassingthwaighte finished with figures of 3/7 but it proved too much to chase in Bangi.

Australia now face South Africa for a place in the final on January 31 before India take on England later on the same day.

Earlier in the day, Nigeria ended their campaign with a thrilling six-run victory over Ireland.

Lilian Ude returned with impressive figures of 3 for 11 to consistently stymie Ireland’s chase of 95, after Christabel Chukwuonye led a steady innings with the bat for Nigeria.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 99 for eight in 20 overs (Sanjana Kavindi 19, Sumudu Nisansala 18; Lily Bassingthwaighte 3/7, Hasrat Gill 2/18) beat Australia 87 for eight in 20 overs (Caoimhe Bray 27, Eleanor Larosa 18; Chamudi Praboda 2/13, Pramudi Methsara 2/16) by 12 runs.

Nigeria: 94/7 in 20 overs (Christabel Chukwuonye 25, Peculiar Agboya 17; Kia McCartney 2/13, Niamh MacNulty 1/12) beat Ireland 88 all out in 18.4 overs (Rebecca Lowe 21, Millie Spence 14; Lilian Ude 3/11, Anointed 2/8) by six runs.

It took an apocalyptic dust storm and a freak bout of rain for Australia to get its World Cup campaign back on track with a five-wicket win against Sri Lanka at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Monday.

While it wasn’t exactly the statement win the Aussies were looking for after two successive defeats, the return of Mitchell Marsh (52, 51b, 9×4) to his characteristic best and Adam Zampa (four for 47) to his wicket-taking form were positives they would settle for.

Maxwell also found his mojo with an unbeaten 21-ball 31 as Australia rushed to the target in 35.2 overs.

After David Warner and Steve Smith were trapped by Dilshan Madushanka in the same over, Marsh and Labuschagne steadied the ship with a 57-run stand. Marsh was aggressive against pace and spin as Australia ransacked 64 runs in the first PowerPlay — 45 of them coming off the opener’s blade.

While Labuschagne picked the gaps and rotated the strike, Josh Inglis (58, 59b, 5×4, 1×6) took on the role of the aggressor after Marsh was run out. The wicketkeeper-batter punished the short stuff on his way to a 46-ball half-century. Both Labuschagne and Inglis couldn’t take Australia home but their knocks were enough to close the door on Sri Lanka.

Earlier, after being asked to bowl, Australia’s desperation was in plain sight as Mitchell Starc frittered away a review off the first ball and issued a stern warning in the same over to Kusal Perera for backing up too far. Barring Labuschagne’s spilt catch to reprieve Pathum Nissanka on 43, those two instances were as close as Australia came to picking a wicket in the first 21 overs.

Nissanka and Perera had blunted the pace trio of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins during a 125-run opening stand before Warner’s brilliance in the field gave Australia its first success as Nissanka miscued a short ball from Cummins.

After Nissanka fell, Perera showcased his ability to read lengths quickly by pulling Hazlewood behind square-leg and then in front of it for consecutive fours. Cummins had his second scalp when he hit the perfect length and moved the ball into Perera.

Captain Kusal Mendis was the second victim of Warner’s acrobatics, prompting the day’s loudest cheer from a sparse crowd. Zampa, who had been flayed for 22 runs in his first three overs, redeemed himself with that dismissal.

The leg-spinner hastened the collapse with three more wickets, trapping right-handers in front with his googlies. Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for 52 runs and its capitulation almost matched the drama of an aberrant 30-minute spell of rain and winds that picked apart the tournament branding at the venue.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA: Pathum Nissanka c Warner b Cummins 61 (67b, 8×4), Kusal Perera b Cummins 78 (82b, 12×4), Kusal Mendis c Warner b Zampa 9 (13b), Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw b Zampa 8 (8b, 1×4), Charith Asalanka c Labuschagne b Maxwell 25 (39b, 1×6), Dhananjaya de Silva b Starc 7 (13b, 1×4), Dunith Wellalage run out 2 (9b), Chamika Karunaratne lbw b Zampa 2 (11b), Maheesh Theekshana lbw b Zampa 0 (5b), Lahiru Kumara b Starc 4 (8b, 1×4), Dilshan Madushanka (not out) 0 (6b); Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-9): 13; Total (in 43.3 overs): 209.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-125 (Nissanka, 21.4 overs), 2-157 (Perera, 26.2), 3-165 (Mendis, 27.6), 4-166 (Samarawickrama, 29.1), 5-178 (Dhananjaya, 32.3), 6-184 (Wellalage, 34.5), 7-196 (Karunaratne, 37.6), 8-199 (Theekshana, 39.2), 9-204 (Kumara, 40.5).

AUSTRALIA BOWLING: Starc 10-0-43-2, Hazlewood 7-1-36-0, Cummins 7-0-32-2, Maxwell 9.3-0-36-1, Zampa 8-1-47-4, Stoinis 2-0-11-0.

AUSTRALIA: Mitchell Marsh run out 52 (51b, 9×4), David Warner lbw b Madushanka 11 (6b, 1×6), Steve Smith lbw b Madushanka 0 (5b), Marnus Labuschagne c Karunaratne b Madushanka 40 (60b, 2×4), Josh Inglis c Theekshana b Wellalage 58 (59b, 5×4, 1×6), Glenn Maxwell (not out) 31 (21b, 4×4, 2×6), Marcus Stoinis (not out) 20 (10b, 2×4, 1×6); Extras (w-3): 3; Total (for five wkts. in 35.2 overs): 215.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24 (Warner, 3.1), 2-24 (Smith, 3.6), 3-81 (Marsh, 14.3), 4-158 (Labuschagne, 28.5), 5-192 (Inglis, 33.1).

SRI LANKA BOWLING: Kumara 4-0-47-0, Madushanka 9-2-38-3, Theekshana 7-0-49-0, Wellalage 9.2-0-53-1, Karunaratne 3-0-15-0, Dhananjaya 3-0-13-0.

Toss: Sri Lanka; PoM: Zampa.

Australia won by five wickets with 14.4 overs to spare.

First look: Karunaratne will look to impress on his first outing this WC, having replaced Shanaka.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

 Australia, a pre-tournament favourite, and Sri Lanka, which often punches above its weight, will be desperate to open their World Cup 2023 account at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Monday.

Both sides are coming off two successive defeats, one against South Africa each, and find themselves on the wrong side of history.

While Sri Lanka conceded the highest total against the Proteas in its opener, it saw Pakistan pull off the highest successful chase in the tournament’s history in the following game. Australia, meanwhile, faced its heaviest World Cup defeat against South Africa in its previous match here and has kick-started a World Cup campaign with two losses for the first time since 1992.

The troubles don’t seem to end for the Lankans as their skipper Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out indefinitely due to a right thigh muscle injury with Kusal Mendis, in red-hot form, taking over from him.

The Australians have witnessed their middle-order collapse against India and South Africa and are yet to breach the 200-run mark, while the Lankan bowlers are smarting a battering of over 770 runs in just under 100 overs across two games.

In the middle-overs with the ball, both teams have lacked penetration and allowed the opposition to wrest the initiative after being economical in the first PowerPlay.

Crucial phase

With conditions likely to assist swing and seam movement while the ball is new, a lot will hinge on how the first 10 overs pan out.

Sri Lanka’s batting, shepherded by Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, has variety but will have its task cut out against the trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, who have shone in patches.

Australia, on the other hand, will quickly need to give role clarity to its pantheon of all-rounders, which is yet to deliver, and will bank on Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to build on their starts and counter Sri Lanka’s spin pack, led by Maheesh Theekshana.