Australia crush SL by 81 runs to reach Semis

Tags: AUS v SL 20th Match at Bridgetown - May 9, 2010, Australia, Sri Lanka, ICC World T20 - 2010, Cameron Leon White, Michael Edward Killeen Hussey, Suraj Randiv Kaluhalamulla

Published on: May 09, 2010

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Australia defeated Sri Lanka by a crushing margin of 81 runs to enter the Semi Finals.

Sri Lanka Innings
Australia defeated Sri Lanka by a crushing margin of 81 runs to enter the Semi Finals. Well it was a terrific win for the Aussies considering that they were down and out it seemed at 67 for 5 batting first! But they bounced back hard and after putting some decent runs on the board, the bowlers and the fielders took care of the rest! Sri Lanka was just no match to them in the second innings as they got bundled out for a paltry 87 in 16.2 overs!
First to go in the Lankan chase was the inform Mahela Jayawardene hooking one into the hands of square fine leg in the 3rd over to taste his first failure in four innings of this tournament so far! The rest of the batsmen were softened up by the sharp rising deliveries and it was all over for the Lankans when they lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 7th over through a sensational diving catch from Cameron White at backward point.
All the six bowlers used by Australia were amongst the wickets with the exception of Shane Watson. Leg Spinner Steven Smith too was impressive with two wickets. The main damage was done by the express trio of Nannes (2 for 19), Tait (who got Sangakkara gloving a hook) and Mitchell Johnson (3 for 15). The Man of the Match had to go obviously to Cameron White for spoiling Sri Lanka's plans of causing an upset.
Australia Innings
Cameron White unleashed one of the most important knocks of his life to save Australia's skin against Sri Lanka. From a hopeless situation of 67 for 5 in the 11th over, Australia recovered amazingly to put up 168 for 5. While Cameron White was all power in his straight bat lofted shots, Michael Hussey was the able partner in rotating the strike and keeping things solid at one end. White remained unbeaten on 85 from 49 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes. Michael Hussey wasn't slow by any means as he got his 39 not out from 26 balls with 4 fours and a six.
Australia were put on the mat by the tall off spinner Suraj Randiv who troubled them with his bouncing top spinners. Sri Lanka got off to a splendid start when Mathews forced Watson to play onto his stumps and then got Haddin mishitting to mid off. Randiv then got into the action with two wickets in two balls and after a while removing Michael Clarke. The offie ended up with figures of 3 for 20 in his 4 overs. Sri Lanka couldn't keep the pressure right through and the bowlers got smashed for 90 runs in the last 7 overs!
Toss and Teams
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in the Super Eights Match against Sri Lanka. Both teams are coming after winning their respecting first out of three matches in this second round. The team winning today's contest will walk into the Semi Finals while the loser will have one more opportunity to make it there.
While the Australians have remained unchanged, Sri Lanka have made as many as three changes despite beating West Indies by a huge margin in their last outing. Pererea, Kulasekara and an injured Murali have been replaced with Dinesh Chandimal, Chanaka Welegedara and off spinner Suraj randiv.
Australia : David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (C), Cameron White, David Hussey, Brad Haddin (WK), Steven Smith, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes
Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (C&WK), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis and Chanaka Welegedara

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