ODI World Cup 2023: Australia vs Sri Lanka, Match 14 - Who Said What?

Australia finally managed to register their first win in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as they beat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Monday, October 16 in Lucknow. Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and elected to bat first and his decision was vindicated by openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera who put on a century stand for the first wicket.

However, after Australian skipper Pat Cummins removed the opening duo, Adam Zampa ran through the middle order with his brilliant spell and bundled out Sri Lanka for 209. In reply, Australia got off to a miserable start as they were left reeling at 24/2 after four overs with David Warner and Steve Smith getting dismissed cheaply. However, after the early blows, half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis saw Australia reach home in 35.2 overs.

Here are the talking points of the Match:

1. Sri Lanka gets off to a flier

The opening pair of Kusal Perera (78 off 82) and Pathum Nissanka (61 off 67) got Sri Lanka off to a terrific start as they added 125 runs for the first wicket off 130 balls. Nissanka registered his second consecutive fifty of the tournament as he smacked eight boundaries in his innings while Perera’s knock was studded with 12 fours.

Also Check: Mitchell Starc warns Kusal Perera twice after batter moves out of crease early at non-striker's end

2. Adam Zampa spins a web around Sri Lanka

After leaking 70 runs in the previous fixture against South Africa, the wrist spinner made a remarkable comeback as he picked up 4/47 in eight overs. His four-fer included wickets of Kusal Mendis (9 off 13), Sadeera Samarawickrama (8 off 8), Chamika Karunaratne (2 off 11) and Maheesh Theekshana (0 off 5).

3. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis star with the bat for Australia

After a couple of failures in the first two games, Marsh finally found his form back as he scored 52 (51) with the help of nine fours. Inglis also justified his selection over Carey with a brilliant knock of 58 (59) which stabilized the Australian innings after two early wickets.

Also Check: Most Wickets in ODI Cricket World Cup 2023

Winning Captain, Pat Cummins, Australia said:

Nothing said much on the back of two losses. The energy on the field was great. They started very well. We bowled decently. We stayed at it. The bowlers hit the deck hard. I think high 300 was par on that. There is a lot of people watching this. Outside noise doesn't bother us a lot. All parts of the game came together today. We would want to keep it up.

Losing Captain, Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka said:

Nissanka and Perera batted well. After that we struggled and got a low score. 290 or 300 would have been a good score. We couldn't rotate the strike much. Last two games we batted really well. Today the batters struggled. I have confidence in my batting unit. I think Madushanka bowled really well. He gave us two early wickets. We can field better. I hope Matheesha can recover quickly.

Player of the Match, Adam Zampa, Australia said:

To be honest, I wasn't feeling great because I had a bit of a back spasm. Was playing through it the last couple of days. Today I felt better, bowled better today. (On coming out the attack at the end) I think it was the captain’s decision to get the off spinner against the lefties, and my back was also pretty sore. (On his performances so far) Personally, not at my best and last game particularly felt I could have been doing better. My job in this team is to take wickets in the middle order. Didn’t quite do that last game and put the pressure on the death bowlers. Today, I’ve been feeling better, but nice to come out on the winning side today. Took a while to get into the game, just got to keep that wicket taking attitude going, doesn’t matter if I leak some runs. (On the plans forward) I wish winning was that easy, we’ve got a big one against Pakistan in Bangalore next up. That’s going to be a tough one.