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Australia, Aaron Finch particularly, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
After being smashed by New Zealand in the opening match, Tuesday represented a do-or-die match against Sri Lanka – a side capable of beating anyone on their day.
Set a 158 for victory, Australia chased the target down with 3.3 overs remaining to secure a seven-wicket victory at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Marcus Stoinis (59* off 18) was the star of the show for Australia, belting the second fastest T20 World Cup half-century to ensure the host nation did not bow out in the group stage.
Finch was visibly frustrated (31* off 42) as he struggled to time the ball and was in a “wrestle” all night against the ball.
The Australian captain will take confidence out of the fact he managed to get some valuable time in the middle and managed to find a way to survive, but his inability to time the ball and get off strike could well have cost his side had he not been rescued by Stoinis.
Finch was by no means at his best 12 months ago when Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup and the skipper will undoubtedly believe he still holds a key role in their tournament defence.
Here are our player ratings from the victory, which came alive in the final five overs of the match after grinding along in second gear all evening.
David Warner — 3
11 off 10
With his captain battling at the other end, Warner’s eyes lit up when the spinner was introduced but unfortunately for the left-hander he found Dasun Shanaka at cover to hand Maheesh Theekshana a wicket first ball.
Warner gets another one point for his superb work in the field.
Aaron Finch — 4.5
31* off 42
The skipper looked agitated in the field and frustrated with the bat in-hand, as he continually tossed his bat up in the air — it was that kind of night for him.
He was dropped on 23 off 34 from a top edge when it should have been taken.
Later, former Sri Lankan star Russell Arnold was scathing, saying: “You can’t have a player scoring 27 from 39 deliveries. Through this tournament it’s going to hurt.”
His innings did not come back to bite Australia on Tuesday, but questions remain over his place in the side.
Mitch Marsh — 3
18 off 17; 0-14 off 1
A bizarre innings really.
Marsh was dropped once, got away with another, and eventually was caught in the deep as he attempted to send another one into the stands.
Perhaps he thought he owed his captain to get on with it whilst Finch battled for form, but the shot selection left a lot to be desired as Marsh gave away his wicket at a crucial stage of the game at 2-60 after 8.3 overs.
Glenn Maxwell — 6
23 off 12; 1-5 off 1
Strong cameo that ended with a spectacular catch in the deep.
Maxwell was rocked from a rising delivery from Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler as he was struck on the neck. Less than an over later he was out.
Before then he had struck 17 off Wanindu Hasaranga’s over, with another two runs from Finch, which looked like being a game-changing over.
That was until three runs came from the next two overs as Finch played out six dots ball from Maheesh Theekshana, who sent down just one wide in his second over.
Marcus Stoinis — 10
59* off 18; 0-17 off 2
The Australian all-round single-handedly won the match for Australia and, by doing so, kept their world Cup defence alive.
With his captain chewing, Stoinis stepped up to save his side for the second straight World Cup campaign by smashing the fastest half-century in Australian T20 history and the second fastest in T20 World Cup history behind only Yuvraj Singh.
The match defining over came in the 15th over as Australia hit 19 off Hasaranga and 18 of those came off the bat of Stoinis.
Some poor fielding hurt Stoinis’ figures, with the batting all-rounder sending down a couple of overs.
Tim David — N/A
Did not bat nor bowl.
Matthew Wade — N/A
Exceptional with the gloves, Wade took two catches.
Ashton Agar — 6.5
1-25
A late inclusion for Adam Zampa (Covid-19), Agar bowled respectfully but didn’t pose the same attacking threat at the leg-spinner.
Agar bowled rather straight and directed the ball into the pads.
When he took the wicket, he managed to get the Sri Lankan batter reaching and going hard at a ball outside the line of off-stump.
Even still, Agar has just returned to the game after being injured and the four-over spell could prove important if he’s called upon later in the series.
Pat smashed for 20 after AWFUL review | 00:56
Pat Cummins — 5
1-36 off 4
Cummins’ place is coming under just a bit of pressure.
Why? Well, as Kerry O’Keeffe made mention on The Back Page, his length in T20 cricket can be exposed.
“Hazlewood has made himself a T20 bowler but Pat Cummins’ length allows batsmen to get under him” O’Keeffe said.
“That’s why people like the Nathan Ellis, who should have been in this squad and bowl yorkers, slower stuff, much more variety inside the four overs than Pat, who is still an outstanding bowler by the way, but they read him perfectly.”
Cummins went for 20 off his last over, as he bowled a couple of wides and was well hit down the ground.
Mitchell Starc — 7
1-23 off 4
Five wides hurt in the penultimate overs but with the exception of that Starc bowled well and had his pace up.
Interestingly Starc didn’t take the new ball. It comes after he was hammered in the first over against New Zealand.
The question is, is Starc being used as effectively as he should if he’s not taking the new ball and swinging it? After all, the Perth wicket did plenty for the new ball bowlers.
Josh Hazlewood — 7
1-26 off 4
Took the new ball and bowled a good length.
The Sri Lankans rarely managed to get on top of the extra bounce from Hazlewood, who managed to extract a lot out of the wicket.
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