Women’s T20 World Cup: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in their tournament opener
After restricting Sri Lanka to a low total of 93/7 in the first innings, Beth Mooney led the way as Australia comfortably achieved a six-wicket victory in their tournament debut.
Megan Schutt and Sophie Molineux were standout performers with the ball, while Australia’s strong batting order maintained control despite the challenging hot weather conditions. Alyssa Healy’s unbeaten 43 off 38 balls helped secure victory with 5.4 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka is left with no points in Group A after two games, with tough matches against India and New Zealand to come.
Aus-W vs SL-W: The Sri Lankan Innings
The Asia Cup Champions decided to bat first after winning the toss, but struggled during the powerplay as Australia quickly dismissed both opening batsmen and slowed down the run scoring with aggressive field placements.
Sri Lanka aimed to reconstruct their innings, however, they only managed to score 23/2 after the initial six overs. Australia quickly claimed a third wicket as Kavisha Dilhari was also given out lbw by Sophie Molineux.
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Nilakshika Silva (29 out of 40) and Anushka Sanjeewani (16 out of 15) made sure that Sri Lanka scored some runs, but Australia’s bowlers made it challenging for them to increase the score.
Sri Lanka finished their innings at 93/7, giving Australia a modest target, which they easily achieved.
Aus-W vs SL-W: The Australian Chase
Australia saw their captain Alyssa Healy dismissed in the first over of their innings after being bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani.
The decision to move Georgia Wareham up in the batting order backfired when she was run out by Kavisha Dilhari’s clever fielding, leaving Australia at 14 for two.
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Mooney, who remained extremely calm, took charge of the pursuit and guided Australia to a score of 62 for three at the midway point, with Gardner by her side.
Mooney finished the game unbeaten on 43 runs, continuing her impressive form from the 2023 World Cup final where she scored 78 runs and was named Player of the Final.
