Agencies, London
Aron Finch blistering knock of 153 runs off 131 balls powered Australia to post a mammoth total of 334 runs against Sri Lanka in the World Cup match here at the Oval on Saturday.
After put in to bat, both openers David Warner and Aron Finch played handsomely giving a good start to the Kangaroos. The opening pair added 80 runs before Warner fell to Dhananjaya de Silva on a score of 26 runs.
Usman Khawaja could have done a bit well, but failed to contribute much and was dismissed for 10 runs. However, Finch on the other hand kept the score board running.
Finch with Steve Smith thrashed Sri Lankan bolwers and stitched a 173-runs-partnership for the third wicket. Finch walked to the pavilion as he was caught by Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne on Isuru Udana’s ball in 42.2 over. His innings included 15 fours and 5 sixes.
In the same over, Udana struck again and dismissed another settled batsman, Smith, who scored 73 runs off 58 balls with the help of 7 fours and 1 six.
Later, Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Marsh took the charge for the remaining overs and the duo struck 22 runs in the 45th over with help 4 fours and 1 six in Nuwan Pradeep’s spell. In 47th over Udana dismissed Marsh on a score of 3 runs.
However, Maxwell remained unbeaten on the other side to keep the score board running and scored 42 off 24 balls with the help of 4 fours and 1 six, as the lower order batsmen from there didn’t contribute much. Shaun Marsh (3), Alex Carey (4) and Pat Cummins (0) scored respectively. Mitchell Starc too remained unbeaten with five runs.
For Sri lanka, Isuru Udana and Dhananjaya de Silva took two wickets each while Lasith Malinga clinched one wicket.