Defending champions Australia beat Sri Lanka by six wickets
Cricket
Megan Schutt (3/12) and Sophie Molineux (2/20) starred with the ball
(Web Desk) - 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 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 boundaries hard to come by, 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.
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Fast scoring proved tricky for Australia, but with such a modest target there was little pressure, and the game was effectively won when Ashleigh Gardner lobbed up a catch to depart for 12 (15).
And the match ended in a hurry as Phoebe Litchfield joined in with a run-a-ball 9, helping top-scorer Mooney (43*) to get to the winning post with more than five overs remaining and with six wickets still in hand.
