AUS vs SL Highlights, ODI World Cup 2023: Australia Beat Sri Lanka By 5 Wickets, Clinch First Points In ODI World Cup 2023

Some spicy words from the Australian skipper to his critics.

"There is a lot of people watching this. Outside noise doesn't bother us a lot.'' - Pat Cummins

An emphatic win in Lucknow helps Australia open their account in the #CWC23 #AUSvSL : https://t.co/nOE42M6VZW pic.twitter.com/vbBfkTDmGI, — ICC (@ICC) October 16, 2023

Adam Zampa deservingly gets ICC Player of the Match for his first four-wicket haul in the World Cup. 

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 215-5 (35.2)

Stoinis puts it in the crowd. First win for Aussies!

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 198-5 (33.4)

Wellalage gets Inglis as he attempts an inside-out shot. Theekshana juggled but held on at point. Inglis departs for 58.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 189-4 (32)

Maxwell has hit three fours and two sixes within two overs, taking the game away from Sri Lanka in the blink of an eye. What a player! This will be over soon.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 158-4 (28.5)

Madushanka gets the big wicket of Labuschagne. Glenn Maxwell steps in.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 118-3 (22.1)

Australia need less than 100 runs as Labuschagne-Inglis steady the boat for Aussies after Marsh's unfortunate run-out. Still a lot to be done. Partnership is 37 now.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 89-3 (14.5)

Mitchell Marsh gets run out for 52! Marsh cuts to sweeper cover, attempts a second run, and a brilliant throw by Karunaratne outdoes the Australian opener. 

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 76-2 (13)

Mitchell Marsh notches his maiden World Cup fifty, with nine boundaries to his name.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 62-2 (9)

Marsh hits Wellalage for three fours in an over. Australia are back in the game!

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 24-2 (4)

Steven Smith is out! LBW, no doubts, he walks back for a duck. Australia in trouble.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)
AUS: 24-1 (3.1)

Madushanka dismisses Warner with a nip-backer for 11 runs, and the LBW call stands after a review.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)

AUS: 4-0 (0.1)

Lahiru Kumara is bowling the first over of the second innings. Warner-Marsh on crease.

Another rain delay is expected as groundstaff covers the pitch. Strong wind caused damage to hoardings and scaffoldings during the first innings. Hopefully, the match will resume soon.

SL: 209-10 (43.3)

Sri Lanka Bowled Out for 209! A sudden collapse from 125 to 209. Asalanka departs last, Maxwell takes his first wicket of the maytch. 

Australia need 210 to win!

SL: 204-9 (40.5)

Starc's yorker cleans up Lahiru Kumara, Sri Lanka's ninth wicket down.

SL: 199-8 (39.4)

Zampa traps Theekshana lbw with a quick googly, Sri Lanka in danger of a collapse here.

SL: 197-7 (38.3)

The googly does the trick. The ball turned in sharply, and Karunaratne's bat got entangled with the pad. He departs for just 2. Zampa's third wicket. Sri Lanka in trouble at 7 down. 

SL: 184-6 (35)

Wellalage fell victim to a brilliant run-out by Aussie skipper Pat Cummins. Despite a dive, Wellalage was found short of his crease.

SL: 178-5 (32.3)

Mitchell Starc strikes just after the break. How many times have we seen this? Starc delivers a length ball outside off, Dhananjaya de Silva attempts a loose shot, and the inside edge shatters the stumps.

The game is likely to resume shortly after the umpires have a discussion.

It has started drizzling here at the Ekana Cricket Stadium as players make their way out of the field. The covers have been brought on. So we have a delay in the match but let's hope it's a short one before play resumes again. Warner provided a moment here as he helped to bring one-off covers onto the field. Giggles all around.

Wicket! Zampa looks in great rhythm here as he gets his second of the match. The batter has taken a review here but it looked closed. It's umpire's call so Samarawickrama will have to go. He departs for 8.

Wicket! Brilliant catch from Warner. He had to cover a long way but managed to hold onto that as Kusal Mendis departs cheaply. Zampa gets his first wicket.

Wicket! Knocks him over. Cummins with another. Perera has missed out on what would have been a remarkable century. He has played a great hand here to provide a promising start to his team. He goes for 78 as Sri Lanka lose the second wicket.

Wicket. Cummins gets the reward for disciplined bowling. Nissanka tried to collect a boundary as well but was never in control of that as he found David Warner in the deep who made no mistake. 

Both players have reached their respective half-centuries as they continue to keep Sri Lanka on top. Sri Lanka crossed the 100-run mar. Four runs came off that over from Cummins.

Oh no! Perera has been hit on the helmet here. Stoinis closes in to check as he pats on his back. Five runs came off that over as we have a short delay here.

Cummins finishes off well after conceding a boundary. Six runs came off that over. Oh dear! Can you believe that? The should have taken the review as it showed three reds there. Maxwell has missed out on a wicket.

Perera and Nissanka are off to a stunning start here. They are hitting boundaries at regular intervals as well and have added 39 runs in the first seven overs.

That wasn't a good start for Starc in the first over as he gave away nine runs including two boundaries while Hazlewood started brilliantly, conceding just one runs in the second over.  

Mitchell Starc has the new ball in his hands for Australia while Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera have taken the crease first up for the Lankans.

Australia have backed their playing 11 despite back-to-back defeats in the tournament so far.

"We probably would have batted as well but don't think it is too big a difference. The last 2 days we had training sessions and everyone is very clear on quite a few areas we need to sharpen up. We are playing the same team," Australia skipper Pat Cummins said at the toss.

"We will bat first, the wicket is looking good and it might turn a bit in the second half. We have 2 changes. Dasun and Matheesha are not playing and Chamika and Lahiru Kumara are playing. Unfortunately, Dasun is not playing, really important match today. Par score might be 280-300, hopefully we can manage that," Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis said at the toss.

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood,

Sri Lanka skipper Kushal Mendis has won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia in Lucknow. 

68 metres on one side (of the square) and 69 on the other side, straight is 76 metres. There is a little bit of moisture on it, it is a little bit damp because they had these hessian mats on it, so it's just holding it together because it is a red soil and they don't want it to be too dry too early. There is a bit of grass as well," reckon Samuel Badree and Nasser Hussain.

Indian premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is leading the wicket-takers chart with eight scalps in three matches while New Zealand bowlers Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry occupy second and third place respectively with eight scalps each. Bumrah tops the chart due to his better average than the Kiwi duo. 

After suffering consecutive defeats against India and South Africa in the World Cup 2023 so far, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said the team will play every match like a final to stay alive in the tournament.  

"We're obviously 0-2, so we've got to start winning and start winning quickly. Every game now becomes almost like a final. You've got to win just about all of them," Cummins said during a pre-match press conference.

According to Accuweather.com, there is a 19 per cent chance of thunderstorms during the second half of the game, with chances of precipitation hovering around 65 percent.

The likelihood of cloud cover is also 52 per cent which heightens concerns that rain would hamper Australia vs Sri Lanka at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Rare sight to see Australia at the bottom of the points table in the ODI World Cup but it is what it is. With no win in their first two matches, Australia dropped to the bottom spot after Afghanistan produced a stunning win over England in Delhi on Sunday.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka are placed at eighth place with two defeats in as many matches. Both teams will look to register their first points in the tournament in Lucknow.

Kusal Mendis will be leading the Sri Lankan side in the rest of the ODI World Cup 2023 after the regular skipper Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh injury. He is the highest run-scorer for Sri Lanka in the tournament with 192 runs including one century and a fifty.

Both Australia and Sri Lanka will be eyeing their respective first win of the tournament, having lost their opening two matches.

Notably, Australia lost their matches against India and South Africa while Sri Lanka ended up on the losing side against South Africa and Pakistan. 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the ODI World Cup 2023 match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Stay tuned for all the latest updates!