Marcus Stoinis extraordinary onslaught ensured Australia overcame a valiant Sri Lanka

Stoinis lights up Perth as Australia win by seven wickets

Marcus Stoinis otherwise unconvincing batting effort was turned on its head by Marcus Stoinis, whose incredible unbeaten 59 got Australia on the board at the T20 World Cup

unbeaten 59 from 18 deliveries to help Australia chase down 158 in their Super12 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday.

Disciplined bowling by the Aussies kept Sri Lanka quiet for the major part of their innings but  Asalanka and Karunaratne added 37 runs from the last 15 deliveries to help Sri Lanka to a respectable total of 157/6.

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Asalanka remained unbeaten on 38 from 25 deliveries while Karunaratne scored an useful 14 from seven deliveries after walking in to bat at number eight.

Pathum Nissanka (40) and Dhananjaya de Silve also got off to good starts but they couldn’t accelerate, ending their innings at underwhelming strike-rates of 88.89 and 113.04 respectively.

It was not the most convincing win as the Lankans stayed in the hunt for most of the match, but a devastating Stoinis blitz (59no from 18 balls) put the game to bed as the Aussies chased down 158 with 21 balls to spare.

The Australian bowling attack, shorn of its lead spinner in Adam Zampa who tested positive to COVID-19, had kept the visitors to the manageable target but could have ensured a bigger boost to their net run-rate had they been able to stop the fast-finishing Charith Asalanka (38 off 25) in a late cameo.