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Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis admitted that their team fell short of putting up a competitive score in the first innings against Australia which eventually affected their chances of victory.
Sri Lanka enjoyed an explosive start in the first innings after winning the toss as Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera took on Australia's fierce pace attack and flourished in the initial overs. However, their efforts with the bat weren't enough as the middle order failed to survive on the pitch after rain interrupted the game for some time. "Pathum and KP batted well for the opening partnership but after that the middle order struggled. If we scored 290-300, it would have been good on this pitch. I think we didn't rotate the strike enough and played more dots. I think the last two games we batted, but today we struggled a bit and we have six more matches to perform better. I have confidence in my batting unit. I think Madushanka bowled really well and got two early wickets. I hope Dasun and Matheesha recover quickly," Mendis said after the match. Coming to the game, Zampa's heroics combined with Mitchell Starc's fiery pace reduced Sri Lanka to 199/8 in 39.2 overs. Starc continued his streak of taking a wicket in every World Cup game. Zampa ran through the Lankan line-up without letting them score much. He dismissed Mendis (9), Sadeera Samarawickrama (8), the centurions of the previous match for Lanka and took down Chamika Karunaratne (2) and Maheesh Theekshana (0) in the lower order. Three of these dismissals were leg-before wickets. For Australia, Mitchell Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne drove the innings from that point preventing yet another collapse. Marsh went on to score 52 but he was run out due to good work in the field by Karunaratne. Kusal Mendis did not make any mistake as he dislodged the stumps before Marsh could drag his bat into the crease. Josh Inglis joined Labuschagne. Madushanka claimed the third victim of his night sending Labuschagne back for 40 in in 29th over. Dunith Wellalage claimed a consolation wicket of Inglis who struck a crucial 58 of 59 balls. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis took the Baggy Greens across the finishing line with scores of 31* and 20* respectively. (ANI)
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