Australia’s Adam Zampa (left) celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka in their fifth one-day international in Pallekele on Sunday. (Photo: AP)
Australia’s Adam Zampa (left) celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka in their fifth one-day international in Pallekele on Sunday. (Photo: AP)
David Warner crowned his first series win as Australia captain with a century that set a new benchmark and banished some old demons as he led his team to another hefty win over Sri Lanka.
Having endured a lean trot during the Test match whitewash (163 runs at 27.16) and the first four ODIs (38 at 9.5), Warner capped off a trying couple of months with a landmark 106 as Australia chased down Sri Lanka’s 195 with five wickets and seven overs to spare.
It capped a meticulous captain’s effort from the 29-year-old in his third, undefeated outing as skipper with his only misstep — as he castigated himself for repeatedly — being his dismissal with seven runs of victory when he offered a tired return catch after almost three hours of batting.
The win also placed the Test series in sharper focus, with the ODI outfit — like their red-ball brethren before them — arriving on the island as the world’s top-ranked team only to meet markedly different fates.
The challenge for Australia now is to somehow apply the successful template for ODI cricket in Asia, where their recent record is unsurpassed, and apply to the elite form where it is unquestionably diabolical.
The implementation of the limited-overs fielding restrictions that dissuades teams from crowding close catchers around the bat is certainly one aspect that helped to swing the result.
Scorecard Sri Lanka: D. de Silva c Starc b Faulkner 34, M. Gunathilaka b Zampa 39, B. Mendis c Wade b Hastings 33, L. Chandimal c Wade b Starc 1, W. Tharanga c Zampa b Head 15, M. Perera lbw b Head 14, M. Shanaka b Zampa 13, S. Pathirana c Faulkner b Boland 32, M. Perera b Starc 5, R. Lakmal b Starc 0, M. Aponso (not out) 0. Extras: (lb2, w6, nb1) 9. Total: (in 40.2 overs) 195. Bowling: Starc 9-0-40-3, Hastings 7-1-30-1, Boland 6.2-0-28-1, Faulkner 7-0-30-1, Zampa 6-0-43-2, Head 5-0-22-2.
Australia: D. Warner c & b de Silva 106, M. Wade c Perera b Perera 3, U. Khawaja c Gunathilaka b Perera 6, G. Bailey lbw b Perera 44, T. Head c Lakmal b de Silva 13, J. Faulkner (not out) 8, J. Hastings (not out) 8. Extras: (b2, lb2, w7) 11. Total: (for 5 wkts, in 43 overs) 199. Bowling: Lakmal 8-1-30-0, M. Perera 10-1-51-3, Pathirana 10-0-36-0, Shanaka 2-0-10-0, Aponso 6-0-33-0, de Silva 7-0-35-2.
