AUS vs SL CWC 2023 exciting highlights: Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka

Australia after facing back-to-back defeats of a 6-wicket loss against India and a massive 134-run defeat against South Africa, recovered by registering their first win in the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament against Sri Lanka by 5-wickets on 16th October 2023. The interesting highlights of  AUS vs SL CWC 2023 along with players’ scores and important records at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow will be discussed in detail…

What was the Playing XI for AUS vs SL CWC 2023: Interesting highlights of the 14th match in the World Cup 2023 Tournament

Australia Playing XI: 

1. David Warner: Batsman
2. Mitchell Marsh: All-rounder
3. Steven Smith: Batsman
4. Marnus Labuschagne: All-rounder
5. Glenn Maxwell: All-rounder
6. Josh Inglis: Batsman and Wicket-Keeper
7. Marcus Stoinis: All-rounder
8. Pat Cummins (Captain): Bowler
9. Mitchell Starc: Bowler
10. Adam Zampa: Bowler
11. Josh Hazlewood: Bowler

Sri Lanka Playing XI: 

1. Pathum Nissanka: Batsman
2. Kusal Perera: Batsman and Wicket-keeper
3. Kusal Mendis (Captain): Batsman and Wicket-Keeper
4. Sadeera Samarawickrama: Batsman and Wicket-Keeper
5. Charith Asalanka: All-rounder
6. Dhananjaya de Silva: All-rounder
7. Chamika Karunaratne: All-rounder
8. Dunith Wellalage: Bowler
9. Maheesh Theekshana: Bowler
10. Lahiru Kumara: Bowler
11. Dilshan Madushanka: Bowler

After seeing the above Playing XI of both teams, here are the interesting comparisons you can observe: 

1. Sri Lankan all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne was replaced in place of fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana compared to their playing XI against Pakistan in this tournament. Whereas, Australia maintained the same Playing XI even after losing their previous match against South Africa at the same venue. 
2. Sri Lanka decided to include the alternatives of 3-wicket keepers in their Playing XI whereas Australia opted to include only 1 wicket-keeper for this match. 
3. Australia included 4 all-rounders in their playing XI whereas Sri Lanka included 3 all-rounders in their playing XI.

Interesting highlights of the AUS vs SL CWC 2023: Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis decided to bat first after winning the toss and hoping to post a high total against Australia at Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

Sri Lanka Batting: 

Initially, Sri Lanka started their 1st innings on a great note against Australia by maintaining a 125-run opening partnership between Pathum Nissanka ( 61 runs from 67 balls- including 8 fours) and Kusal Perera (78 runs from 82 balls- including 12 fours). 

After the dismissal of Pathum Nissanka at 125-1 in 21.4 overs and Kusal Perera at 157-2 in 26.2 overs, situations started to begin favoring the Australian bowlers. 

Initially, there were higher chances for Sri Lanka to score more than 300 runs against Australia, but the wickets of Sri Lankan batsmen started to collapse in quick succession. From 157-2 in 26.2 overs to 209-10 in 43.3 overs, Sri Lanka scored only 52-8 ( 52 runs by losing 8 wickets)  in 17.1 overs. 

Here are the bowling figures of the Australian bowlers against Sri Lanka: 

1. Adam Zampa: 47-4 in 8 overs (includes 1 maiden over)
2. Mitchell Starc: 43-2 in 10 overs
3. Pat Cummins: 32-2 in 7 overs
4. Glenn Maxwell: 36-1 in 9.3 overs

Australia Batting:

Unlike Sri Lanka, Australia did not experience a great start to their 2nd innings with the bat by losing important wickets of David Warner(11 runs from 6 balls) at  24-1 in 3.1 overs and Steven Smith (0 from 5 balls) at 24-2 in 3.6 overs.

Australian opening batsman Mitchell Marsh’s crucial knock of 52 runs from 51 balls (including 9 fours), guided his team to recover from a collapsing start.

Additionally, Josh Inglis played a supportive knock of 58 runs from 59 balls (including 5 fours and 1 six), and Marnus Labuschagne’s 40 runs from 60 balls( including 2 fours), ensured that their team reached closer to a winning total.

Finally, it was Glenn Maxwell’s quickfire innings of 31 runs from 21 balls ( including 4 fours and 2 sixes) and Marcus Stoinis’s 20 runs from 10 balls( 2 fours and 1 six) that guided Australia to score 215-5 in 35.2 Overs.

Australia marked their first win of this tournament against Sri Lanka with 5 overs and 88 balls to spare, to keep their hopes alive of making it into the top 4 to reach the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2023.

Sri Lanka’s only Bowler Dilshan Madushanka was impressive with his bowling spell of 38-3 in 9 overs (including 2 maiden overs), as none of the Sri Lankan bowlers grabbed the important wickets of Australian batsmen to make the match situation favorable.

Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka: Decoding Sri Lanka’s score of 209-10 in 43.3 Overs

Let us decode Sri Lanka’s 1st innings score of  209-10 in 43.3 overs split into 10-over intervals:

• 0 to 10 overs: 51-0
• 10 to 20 overs: 63-0( Sri Lanka’s score at 20 overs: 114-0) 
• 20 to 30 overs: 52-4( Sri Lanka’s score at 30 overs: 166-4) 
• 30 to 40 overs: 33-4( Sri Lanka’s score at 40 overs: 199-8) 
• 40 to 50 overs: 10-2( Sri Lanka’s score at 43.3 overs: 209-10)

From the above facts, it becomes clear that Sri Lanka scored a minimum number of 63 runs without even losing a wicket between 10 to 20 overs and lost a maximum number of 4 wickets by scoring the least number of 33 runs between 30 to 40 overs of the 1st innings.

Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka: Decoding Australia’s score of 215-5 in 35.2 Overs

Let us decode Australia’s 2nd innings score of  215-5 in 35.2 overs split into 10-over intervals:

• 0 to 10 overs: 64-2
• 10 to 20 overs: 45-1( Australia’s score at 20 overs: 109-3) 
• 20 to 30 overs: 54-1( Australia’s score at 30 overs: 163-4) 
• 30 to 40 overs: 52-1( Australia’s score at 35.2 overs: 215-5) 

Australia scored a maximum number of 64 runs during their first 10 overs of the powerplay by losing 2 wickets. Additionally, Australia scored more runs during the first 10 overs of the powerplay compared to Sri Lanka at this stage.

Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka: Interesting Facts and Stats about AUS vs SL CWC 2023

1. This is the 5th time in World Cups that both the opening batsmen have scored above 50 runs against Australia.
2. The 125-run opening partnership between Pathum Nissanka ( 61 runs from 67 balls) and Kusal Perera (78 runs from 82 balls) is the 4th highest partnership for Sri Lanka against Australia on any wicket in World Cup matches.
3. Adam Zampa is the 2nd Australian spin bowler to take the most number of 4 wickets in a World Cup innings (10 times) following the former Australian Legendary spin bowler Shane Warner (13 times).
4. Sri Lanka lost the most number of matches in World Cups (42 matches).
5. Glenn Maxwell’s innings of 31 runs from 21 balls, records his 3rd highest score against Sri Lanka in World Cup matches.
6. Glenn Maxwell hits the most number of 51 sixes as a visiting batsman in India across all formats.
7. Sri Lankan Bowler Dilshan Madushanka (38-3 in 9 overs) records the second-best bowling figures against Australia in World Cups.

Australia marks their first win of CWC 2023 against Sri Lanka: Are there any Chances for Australia to qualify for the ICC World Cup 2023 Semi-Finals? 

Australia makes a comeback with a 5-wicket win against Sri Lanka to keep the hopes alive for every Australian cricket fan as well as the team members to qualify for the semi-finals.

Generally, a team should win 7 out of 9 matches to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament on a safer side or 6 out of 9 matches involved with the risk of opposition teams’ results and rankings on the points table of CWC 2023.

Australia is one of the best teams that has won the defending champion title in World Cups 5 times in the years 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015. 

However, the ICC World Cup 2023 initially did not seem to have the best beginning for Australia as they lost 2 consecutive opening matches against India and South Africa. But, Australia recovered from their losses and won 1 out of their 3 matches in this tournament, and with 6 games remaining for this team, here are the remaining matches for the Aussies against different opposition teams in this tournament:

1. Australia vs Pakistan: 20th October 2023( Friday)

Pakistan has won 2 out of 3 matches, and by losing a crucial match against India by 7 wickets looks to make a strong comeback against Australia. On the other side, Australia aims to continue its winning momentum against Pakistan at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, and targets to win the upcoming matches to make it into the top 4 positions.

Australia and Pakistan have faced each other 10 times in World Cups, out of which Australia won 6 matches and Pakistan won 4 matches.

2. Australia vs Netherlands: 25th October 2023 (Wednesday) 

Australia and the Netherlands have faced each other 2 times in the World Cups in the years 2003 and 2007, having a dominating record of winning both matches against the Netherlands.

Also, the Netherlands has not won a single match in this ICC World Cup 2023 tournament.

3. Australia vs New Zealand: 28th October 2023 (Saturday) 

This would be one of the most interesting matches of the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.

New Zealand has won 3 out of 3 matches in the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament and aims to maintain within the top 2 position of the points table.

Australia and New Zealand have faced each other in 11 matches of the World Cup matches, out of which Australia has a dominating record of 8 wins and New Zealand with a minimum number of 3 matches.

4. England vs Australia: 04th November 2023 (Saturday)

This would be one of the promising matches to entertain between the defending champions (England)  and 5-time defending champions( Australia) at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

England and Australia have faced each other 9 times in ICC World Cup tournaments, out of which Australia has won 6 matches and England won only 3 matches.

5. Australia vs Afghanistan: 07th November 2023 (Tuesday) 

Australia and Afghanistan have played only 2 matches against each other in World Cups, with the Aussies having a dominating win of 2 out of 2 matches against the Afghans.

However, the match between Australia and Afghanistan at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai cannot be predicted in advance. This is because in recent times Afghanistan defeated the defending champions by 69 runs in this tournament, which was one of the most shocking defeats for England ever in World Cup matches.

6. Australia vs Bangladesh: 11th November 2023 (Saturday) 

This would be the last league match of the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament for Australia at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. 

Australia and Bangladesh have faced each other 4 times in World Cups, out of which Australia won 3 matches along with a NO-result game against Bangladesh.

From the above schedule, it becomes evident that out of the remaining 6 matches, Australia needs to face the 3 toughest opposition teams such as Pakistan, New Zealand, and England to maximize their chances of entering the semi-finals of ICC World Cup 2023.