Teams Status
Australia
The opening T20I was a flop show for most Aussie batters, except for BBL stalwart Ben McDermott and perhaps Marcus Stoinis. All of the rest failed and must have breathed a sigh of relief when their own bowler bailed them out.-
McDermott had a big hand in the hosts posting 149-9, which was obviously a modest total at best but especially considering that Australia were 80-1 at one point.
Fortunately for Aussie batters though, their bowling teammates were on their game, with Aussie quicks finding early breakthroughs before Adam Zampa wreaking havoc in the middle overs.
Statistically speaking, Josh Hazlewood (4 for 12) was the pick of the bowlers but Zampa (3 for 18) was the one that got rid of the cream of the Sri Lankan batting.
Despite the win, the Aussies certainly did not find their top gear in this game. But this being just the opening act of a five-match series, better collective showings surely must be in the offing.
Sri Lanka
As it happens so often with Sri Lanka, their batters failed after their bowlers had impressed, leading to their defeat.
A target of 150, in this day and age, even on an Australian track, was pretty much achievable but the islanders lost wickets early in their run chase and then always played catch up.
Two batters showed some resistance – one from the top order and the other from lower. Opener Pathum Nissanka made a battling 36 off 37 before number seven batter Dinesh Chandimal contributed an unbeaten 25 off 16.
The entire middle order collapsed against the spin of Zampa, which is a tad surprising for a Sri Lankan side that has traditionally been known to be good against spin.
But then again this was just the opening act of a long series and the Lankans did have their positives in the game – especially with the ball.
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