Aaron Finch hundred takes Australia to the top
Chasing Australia's 334/7, Sri Lanka let the advantage of a rollicking 115-run opening stand slip, allowing Australia to come back strongly as the ever-reliable Mitchell Starc finished with 4/55 in an 87-run win at The Oval on Saturday, 15 June.
After choosing to bowl, while Sri Lanka couldn't make inroads, they didn't quite allow Australia to run away with it – the overs between 10 and 20 being especially subdued. David Warner struggled and Usman Khawaja fell trying to sweep, both of them undone by Dhananjaya de Silva's off-spin.
CWC19: SL v AUS - Australia post 334/7 innings highlights
Finch, meanwhile, slowly built up rhythm and in the company of Smith, pulled and cut with flair. He got to his century with a emphatic six over extra cover. He then accelerated, going on to smash 15 fours and five sixes before he skied one.
Smith's half-century came in just 46 balls, but with the set batsmen falling in consecutive overs – Smith got a cracker of a yorker from Lasith Malinga bowling around the wicket – Sri Lanka's sharp fielding pulled things back. Glenn Maxwell, who began with a boundary and quickly followed it up with a six, pushed the total with 46* off 25 balls, but didn't get much support from the middle order.
Captain Dimuth Karunaratne came out swinging for Sri Lanka, batting against his grain at a healthy strike-rate. Kusal Perera then took over, racing to his half-century off just 33 balls as Australia's new-ball bowlers came in for punishment.
CWC19: SL v AUS - Kusal Perera batting highlights
With no front-line spinner in the XI, it was up to Maxwell to contain the runs, and he did, before Starc bounced back from an expensive opening spell to get a much-needed breakthrough – Kusal having no answer to the pace and finding his stumps rattled.
Karunaratne went on to get his highest ODI score, but fell three short of a hundred, caught at point off Kane Richardson. By then, Sri Lanka were in a collapse, with Starc picking up two in two.