With their T20 World Cup campaign on the brink, Australia had no choice but to win on Tuesday night. What followed was a pulsating match as the hosts chased down Sri Lanka’s 157 for six on a lively Perth pitch, the contest twisting and turning before Marcus Stoinis ended it emphatically. He set a national record in the format by bringing up his fifty in 17 balls, taking his side to 158 for three to win with 21 balls to spare.
Not that such a margin looked possible when the Sri Lankan fast bowlers hit the top of the innings. After losing Binura Fernando to a hamstring strain in the opener, Chamika Karunaratne and Lahiru Kumara attacked the Perth surface to make the new ball sing. Moving away, back on top of the stumps, he barely hit the bat and only found edges when he did. David Warner and Aaron Finch managed 15 runs between them in four overs, then a change to spin saw Warner chip Maheesh Theekshana to cover.
Mitchell Marsh didn’t find it any easier, playing more with his thigh pad than his bat against the quicks, hitting a couple of shots against Wanindu Hasaranga’s leg-spin and first falling and then caught as he tried to same with the drop of Dhananjaya de Silva. turn. At 60 for two near mid-on, his departure for 17 brought in Glenn Maxwell for a vital intervention. Maxwell slotted Dhananjaya through midwicket, then smashed Hasaranga with two back-to-back sixes and a reverse-swept four, scoring 22 runs from his first six balls.
Staggering, Dasun Shanaka brought in Kumara, a barrel-chested quick who muscles the ball down the track. Soon the Australian was hit, targeted by a bouncer, first on his sore hand as he defended, then on the neck as he tried to hook. It took a few minutes to catch his breath, with the presence of reserve player Steve Smith, who suffered a similar knock in the 2019 Ashes.
In a frenzied Karunaratne to follow, off-spinner Ashen Bandara dropped Finch at mid-on after a three-catch attempt, then produced an incredible catch from a flat Maxwell rocket, contorting his heels like a ballerina on pointe to prevent any of the boots from touching the boundary. string and conceding six more.
With Australia needing 61 from 42 balls and victory far from assured, Stoinis joined the spry Finch. Early on, the all-rounder took on the role of a dartboard, mentioned by Shanaka and taking accidental boundaries from the edges. But his spin attack was killer. Once again, he used Sri Lanka’s top spinner as his outlet, and twice found the batting crowd as Hasaranga conceded the most runs of his career, 53 from just three overs.
Stoinis’ onslaught continued against Theekshana, bowled over the fence three times in one over, including an outrageous cover drive. A slower ball from Kumara provided his sixth six, his final score 59 from 18 balls, some contrast to Finch’s unsuccessful odyssey to find the middle of the bat and instead returned 31 from 42. The captain of Australia didn’t care too much, more encouraged by the repair of his team’s net run rate from -4.45 to -1.56.
Earlier, Australia had cause for concern after their main carrier from last year’s World Cup, Adam Zampa, was ruled out with a Covid infection, despite being cleared to play and apparently suffering from mild symptoms . That opened the door for left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who controlled the middle overs to return one for 25 in front of his home crowd, complementing a turnaround from Australia’s fast bowlers.
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Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and especially Mitchell Starc were challenging, with Starc evading the bat and Cummins winning a top edge off Kusal Mendis with extra bounce. Dhananjaya and Pathum Nissanka were reasonably at 75 in the 12th over when Agar stepped in, Warner diving into the deep for a good chance. A collapse of five for 45 began, including a foreshadowing in Hazlewood’s brutal attack at Hasaranga. A series of short balls sprung the Sri Lankan star, before a fuller ball curled in to take his edge back.
Sri Lanka’s No.4 Charith Asalanka held his own, hammering boundaries in chaos for 38 off 25, with Karunaratne supporting him till the end of the innings with 14 off seven. Karunaratne took the momentum into his bowling. But Stoinis triumphed. “To be honest, I was very nervous today,” he said after the game. It didn’t show.