Sri Lanka crush World Cup champions by record margin of 174 runs

• Australia crumble to lowest total in Asia
• Sri Lanka displace South Africa and move to No. 5 in ICC ODI rankings
• “We were outplayed – Sri Lanka played really good cricket,” says Steve Smith

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

World Cup champions and number one ranked ODI team Australia suffered a rare heavy defeat when Sri Lanka thumped them by a record margin of 174 runs to win the second match played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday and with it clinched the two-match series 2-0.

It was Sri Lanka’s biggest winning margin against Australia in ODIs, the previous one being by 82 runs at the same venue in 2016. The win saw Sri Lanka displace South Africa in the ICC ODI rankings and move to fifth spot. 

Sri Lanka won the first ODI played on Wednesday by 49 runs and yesterday’s victory gave them back-to-back ODI series wins against Australia having beaten them 3-2 when they last played in 2022.

Chasing an above par target of 282, Australia needed a good start but Asitha Fernando had different ideas in mind. He ran through the top order picking up three wickets within the power play, and Australia never got going after that. Skipper Steve Smith stuck around for a bit, but he kept losing partners once the spinners came into the attack. He looked largely untroubled in his stay but a marginal lbw call that went against him ended whatever hopes Australia had of chasing down the target.

Three wickets for Wanindu Hasaranga and four wickets for Dunith Wellalage ensured that Australia were bundled out for a mere 107 runs, their second lowest total against Sri Lanka after 74 at Brisbane in 2013 and their lowest ODI total in Asia.

Australia lost 7 for 28 to go down like ninepins. Once Wellalage got through Josh Inglis’ defence, the picture drastically changed. He and Hasaranga shared seven wickets between them to compound Australia’s woes ahead of the Champions Trophy and perhaps even dent their confidence massively.

Sri Lanka who won the toss for the second successive time lost Pathum Nissanka early as the new ball nipped around a bit, but Kusal Mendis and Nishan Madushka forged a good partnership of 98 off 115 balls playing a patient game against the new ball. Once settled in they put their foot on the pedal in the middle overs and never let the spinners settle down.

Mendis played brilliantly for his fifth ODI hundred striking 11 fours in his 115-ball stay. Madushka was out after his fifty which came off 70 balls (4 fours, 1 six) and Kamindu Mendis was dismissed cheaply. Ironically it was Australia’s fast bowlers who did most of the damage, their ability to hold a tight line on off stump, denied scoring options. But skipper Charith Asalanka came out and carried on from where he left off in the first ODI and carried his fine form to score an undefeated 78 off 66 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes). Asalanka and Mendis bossed the middle phase of the game adding 94 off 104 balls. 23 overs of spin fetched only one wicket. Mendis deserved a lot of credit for that, his sweep shots and a willingness to step down the pitch enabling him to overcome the threat of the turning ball. He was dismissed shortly after completing his century but new batter Janith Liyanage played a superb cameo of 32* off 21 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes) to ensure Sri Lanka finished the innings strong with 97 runs coming off the last 10 overs, with Australia’s fielding going a bit ragged and their bowlers not bowling to their field.

Player of the Match Kusal Mendis said that he was very happy with the effort put in by the team.

“We were disappointed with the effort that we put up with the bat in the first game, but very pleased with the way we went about things in the second game. As you know, Australia are the world champions. It’s not easy to win against them. The first game we failed as a top order batting unit. But Charith was superb. Having said that, the pitch had plenty of assistance for the seamers. Their quicks bowled really well. The second game the pitch was slightly different and we were able to stamp our authority. Charith was awesome again. We played well and gave them a challenging target.”

On his personal contribution Mendis said, “Very happy to contribute to the team. Played my natural knock. Been working very hard during training. There is a lot of confidence given to me by everyone and I have been able to bring my best game forward.”

Australian Captain Steve Smith admitted that his team had been outplayed by Sri Lanka in the series.

“Sri Lanka have played some really good cricket. They’ve played really well on this surface out here, as they have done for quite some time. “We were certainly trying a few different things. You don’t see an Australian team making five changes day-in, day-out. It was about everyone having an opportunity to get some time in the middle. We haven’t played 50-over cricket for a little while, and just getting back to the rhythm of it. It doesn’t mean we didn’t perform well out there – we got outplayed by Sri Lanka and they played really well.”

Sri Lanka team celebrate their 2-0 ODI series win over Australia

Josh Inglis is castled by Dunith Wellalage