David Warner's maiden T20I century powered Australia to a smashing 134-run win in the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka at Adelaide on Sunday. Batting first Australia scored 233/2 with birthday boy Warner making 100* and Aaron Finch (64), Glenn Maxwell (62) scoring brisk half-centuries. In reply, Sri Lanka could only muster up 99/9 and suffered their worst defeat ever in the format.
Australia skipper Aaron Finch was all praise for his side, “The way played Davey (Warner) played was outstanding. Maxwell, the way he went from ball one, was brilliant. To get the job done so well is really pleasing,” Finch said at the post-match presentation.
“It was about doing our things really well. We always want to start well and we were pretty clinical today. Maybe a little bit (room for improvement) of execution with the ball. All in all, it was an outstanding job - our quicks upfront and the spinners later.”
Man-of-the-Match David Warner said he was happy Australia put up a big total since those are always tough to chase at home.
“It means a lot to contribute to the team and put us in great position. It was a good milestone, but got a great total on the board and it's always tough to chase a big one in Australia. Sometimes it'd be tough with no rotation of strike but one of us had to go hard against the new ball. You always get good support here in Australia. We thrive on people coming and watching us.”
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Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga said that his team will learn from their mistakes and look to compete harder in the upcoming matches.
“The bowlers didn't bowl in the right line and length. This is a good learning phase for our young bowlers. We know we are playing against a tough team, but this is an opportunity for the inexperienced players to get used to the conditions before the World Cup. We want to compete well in the next matches.
He added that the drop-in pitches is something that his batsmen will have to get used to quickly, “The batsmen are playing on drop-in pitches for the first time and didn't know how the pitch will behave. This is not an excuse. We have to adjust in the next few games.”
The second T20I will be played at Brisbane on Wednesday (October 30).
(With AFP inputs)
