Mathews, Gunaratne guide Sri Lanka to 318/7 against Oz

Sri Lanka rode a patient 95 from captain Angelo Mathews and an unbeaten 70 from Asela Gunaratne to reach 318/7 in their first Champions Trophy warmup match against Australia here at the Kennington Oval on Friday.

Opener Niroshan Dickwella showed the way with a quickfire innings but it took a coordinated effort from the middle and lower middle order to put up an innings that will surely challenge Australia.

Put in, Sri Lanka started on a breezy note as openers Dickwella and Upul Tharanga raised 49 runs within the first seven overs before Tharanga was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood. Dickwella however continued to score at will before departing on 41 off 30 balls.

Sri Lanka were 60/2 in the 10th over but it was perfect platform for the middle order to build on. Australia however dented Sri Lanka’s hoes by quickly dismissing Kusal Mendis (5) and Dinesh Chandimal (17).

That brought together Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera, and for the first time in the match did Sri Lanka form a partnership of over fifty. Their 60-run partnership came off 68 balls, helping Sri Lanka stabilize themselves after the early stutter.

Once Gunaratne entered the scene though, the match quickly tilted in Sri Lanka’s favour. Then on 35, Mathews continued to milk the singles, allowing Gunaratne to go on the assault quickly. Gunaratne ultimately scored 70 off 56 balls, with eight boundaries and two sixes.

Mathews too started to accelerate, even hitting Moises Henriques --- Australia’s most effective bowler with figures of 8-046-3 --- for a huge six but the Sri Lanka captain couldn’t complete his century, falling short by just five runs when Adam Zampa caught him off Henriques.

Gunaratne’s aggression however showed no sign of abating as he started to take apart all Australian bowlers towards the end. Hazlewood got the stick in the 49th over when Gunaratne and Seekkuge Prasanna hit him for a boundary and three sixes to score 23 runs. Prasanna finished with 31 off 19 balls.

Still, with Pat Cummins at the other end, Australia managed to minimise the damage as he conceded just eight runs in the last over.

With 1/47, Cummins finished as the most economical bowler for Australia. Pattinson and Hazlewood both took one wicket a apiece but ended up conceding 80 and 69 runs respectively.