Sharjah , Oct 5 (UNI) Alyssa Healy’s Australia got off to a winning start with a comfortable victory over Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka in Match 5 of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Saturday.
Having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 93/7 in the first innings, opener Beth Mooney anchored the chase as Australia eased to a six-wicket win in their first match of the tournament.
Megan Schutt (3/12) and Sophie Molineux (2/20) starred with the ball, and Australia’s deep batting line-up always looked in control with the bat, even with high temperatures clearly taking a toll, as Mooney’s unbeaten 38-ball 43* saw them home with 5.4 overs remaining.
The result leaves Sri Lanka with zero points after two matches and in real trouble in Group A, with fixtures against India and New Zealand to come.
Beth Mooney played the key hand with the bat, after three wickets left Australia with work to do after the powerplay in their chase of 94.
Alyssa Healy (4) and Georgia Wareham (3) went early, before Ellyse Perry lit a fire under the innings with a quickfire 17 before being cleaned up by Suqandika Kumari, leaving her side at 35/3, still clear favourites but not having it all their own way.
Fast scoring proved tricky for Australia, but with such a modest target there was little pressure, and the game was effectively won by the time Ashleigh Gardner lobbed up a catch to depart for 12 (15).
The match ended in a hurry as Phoebe Litchfield joined in with a run-a-ball 9, helping top-scorer Mooney (43 not out) to get to the winning post with more than five overs remaining and with six wickets still in hand.
The Asia Cup Champions won the toss and opted to bat first, but were tied down in the powerplay, with Australia removing both openers cheaply and stifling the run rate while the fielders were up.
Vishmi Gunaratne was the first to go, trapped in front by Megan Schutt after a struggle of an innings, departing for 0 (10).
Australia bagged the key wicket of captain and star player Chamari Athapaththu when Ashleigh Gardner had the all-rounder out lbw for just 3.
Sri Lanka looked to rebuild, but reached just 23/2 at the end of the first six overs, and Australia soon bagged a third wicket, Kavisha Dilhari also dismissed lbw, this time to Sophie Molineux.
Harshitha Samarawickrama ensured that Sri Lanka at least had a platform to hit off in the final overs, with the number three bedding down with a gutsy 23 from 25 balls. But Molineux returned to prize her out, luring the batter into a mistimed shot that offered a simple caught and bowled.
Nilakshika Silva (29 not out from 40) and Anushka Sanjeewani (16 from 15) ensured Sri Lanka got a score on the board, but scoring continued to prove difficult, as Australia’s bowlers kept things extremely tight.
Georgia Wareham got in on the act, taking a wicket with a full toss that was caught superbly in the deep and given out after a review that used height tracking technology.
Schutt returned to almost finish things off in the most emphatic of styles, picking up two in two and fizzing down an excellent hat-trick ball that Inoshi Priyadharshani did well to dig out.
Sri Lanka closed on 93/7, leaving Australia with a gettable target, that they chased down with relative ease.
Sri Lanka realistically need to win both of their remaining matches to stand any chance of reaching the knockout stages out of Group A.
India are next up for Athapaththu’s side, with the match scheduled for Wednesday in Dubai, with an encounter with New Zealand rounding out their group schedule on October 12.
