Touring Sri Lanka for the first time in six years, Australia, the world champions in the T20 format, handed a huge thrashing to the hosts Sri Lanka, defeating them by 10 wickets. Of the 34 overs played in the match, Australia dominated the match in 23 of them. Apart from a scintillating opening partnership between David Warner and captain Aaron Finch, the biggest star of the evening was Josh Hazlewood, who returned figures of 4/16. We look back at the key moments from the first T20I of the SL vs AUS series.
Hazlewood’s ‘good’ spell
One thing that is synonymous with Josh Hazlewood is his unwavering consistency. A lot of people believe that being consistent with line and length helps only in the longest format of the game, where the bowler plays with the patience of the batter. T20s are supposed to involve a lot of variation, both from bowlers and batters. However, Hazlewood is redefining this theory.
Of his four wickets, three came off ‘good‘ length balls, with the other one pitching slightly short of good length. Hazlewood pitched just two balls each on the full length and the short length. All the other balls were bowled either on a good length or just short of a short of good length. His lines were also just outside the off-stump for both left and right-handers. The only variation Hazlewood provided was in his speeds, as he smartly changed his pace to fox the batters.
A colossal collapse
Danushka Gunathilaka provided a brisk start to Sri Lanka, scoring 26 runs off just 15 balls. When he was dismissed, SL had already put 39 runs on the board in 4.2 overs, scoring at 9.29 runs per over. Post his dismissal, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka steadied the ship with a 46-ball partnership of 61 runs. What followed next was beyond anyone’s imagination.
From 100-1 after 11.5 overs, Sri Lanka suffered a huge collapse, losing the next nine wickets for just 28 runs. At one stage, they lost seven wickets for 18 runs. The chief architect of that was Hazlewood, who broke the back of the Lankan innings in the 14th over. Coming back into the attack to bowl his third over, Hazlewood took three wickets in the over, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka bagging ducks. Two avoidable run-outs didn’t help their cause either.
The Lankan batting lineup might not be too experienced, but this collapse was one that could either make or break their spirits ahead of a long multi-format series.
Aussie openers get the job done
A target of 129 runs is rarely a tough ask in T20s, let alone for a mighty batting lineup of the T20 World Champions. Australia treated the target the way one expects champion sides to do – sweep it away nonchalantly.
Aaron Finch, the Australian captain might have been playing under the pressure of not scoring runs leading up to the series, but his partner, David Warner, took all the pressure off him. The difference between their eventual scores might just be nine runs, but it doesn’t reflect how Warner allowed Finch to settle in, who then set himself free to nail down the chase in just 14 overs.
Australia might not have been made to work hard to earn the victory, but the number 1 T20I team in the world checked a lot of boxes that warranted a look. Performances of their fast bowlers in these conditions would be a pleasing sight for Finch, whose own form might allow the Aussie camp to breathe a sigh of relief.