Sri Lanka and Australia faced each other in the 20th match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at Kennington Oval, London on Saturday (June 15).

Set into bat first, Australia got off to a solid start, courtesy captain Aaron Finch and David Warner playing the Lankan bowlers cautiously. The duo put up 80 runs for the opening wicket in 16.4 overs. Dhananjaya de Silva drew the first blood for Sri Lanka by dismissing Warner on 26.

Unperturbed his opening partner’s dismissal, Finch continued his dominance and added 173 runs for the third wicket with Steve Smith. In the process, the Aussie skipper also notched up his 13th ODI ton and first in this year’s World Cup. Following his hundred, Finch went berserk and struck boundaries at will. Isuru Udana dismissed him in the 43rd over but not before Finch played a glorious innings of 153 from 132 balls (15 fours and 5 sixes).

Smith, who played a second fiddle to Finch, also got out in the next over for 73 off 59 balls (7 fours and 1 six) as Sri Lanka reduced the defending champions to 278/4. In the death overs, Glenn Maxwell made the mockery of Sri Lankan bowling attack. The swashbuckling right-hander scored 46 off just 25 deliveries with 5 fours and 1 six to help Australia pile up 334/7 on the board.

Brief Scores:

Australia – 334/7 in 50 overs (Aaron Finch 153; Steve Smith 73) vs Sri Lanka (Dhananjaya de Silva 2/40); Isuru Udana 2/57)