Hazlewood's 4-wicket haul restrict SL at 128 against Aus in 1st T20I
Jun 07, 2022
Colombo [Sri Lanka], June 7 : Josh Hazlewood's four-wicket haul helped Australia to restrict Sri Lanka at 128 in the first innings of the first T20I match of the three-match series, here at R Premadasa Stadium, on Tuesday.
Apart from Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc took three wickets while Kane Richardson scalped one wicket.
Put to bat, Sri Lanka made a decent start to their innings as their opening batters Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka smashed 35 runs in four overs.
Australia got their first breakthrough in the fifth over when Gunathilaka was caught by Mitchell Marsh on Hazlewood's delivery and departed after scoring 26 runs off 15 balls. Charith Asalanka came to the crease and provided the momentum to Sri Lanka.
Along with Nissanka, Asalanka took Sri Lanka across the 100-run mark in 12 overs and kept the scoreboard moving. Their happiness was short lived as Mitchell Starc bowled Nissanka out in the 12th over, leaving the team's total at 100/2.
It was followed by Kusal Mendis' dismissal in the 14th over after he was caught by Matthew Wade on Hazlewood's delivery. In the same over, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka also departed without opening their run tally and leaving Sri Lanka struggling at 103/5.
In the 16th over, Asalanka was run out by Wade and departed after scoring 38 runs off 34 balls. Chamika Karunaratne was also run out in the 17th over by Steve Smith, with Sri Lanka's score at 118/7. It was followed by Dushmantha Chameera and Waninidu Hasaranga's wicket in the 19th over.
In the 20th over, Kane Richardson struck and sent Maheesh Theekshana back to the dugout and ended Sri Lanka's inning at 128 runs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 128/10 (Charith Asalanka 38, Pathum Nissanka 36; Josh Hazlewood 4/16) vs Australia.
