LIVE: Aussies fight back as ‘lazy’ batter punished in ‘horrible’ mix-up

Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka has resumed, with the first ODI in Pallekele on Tuesday night kicking off a five-match series between the nations.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Sri Lanka is 2-119 after 22 overs with Kusal Mendis (2) and Dhananaya De Silva (1) at the crease.

Australia finally took a wicket in the 20th over with a sharp piece of fielding on the boundary from Marcus Stoinis leading to the runout of Danushka Gunathilaka for 55 off 53 balls.

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MATCH CENTRE: Sri Lanka vs Australia, first ODI, live scoreboard, stats

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Brad Haddin in commentary said that Gunathilaka was guilty of running a “lazy” first run that led to a “horrible” mix-up on the second.

Just two overs later, fellow opener Pathum Nissanka top-edged a reverse sweep to Ashton Agar to hand Aaron Finch a simple catch — and waste a strong Sri Lankan start.

Earlier, Sri Lanka’s openers Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka both reached half centuries in a strong start for the hosts.

Australia struggled to ask questions on a slow wicket, and burned a review on an appeal for caught behind to Gunathilaka. Replays showed clear daylight between bat and ball from Ashton Agar with a noise coming from when the opener struck his pad.

Cummins unlikely to play all one-dayers | 00:56

Australia may have won the corresponding T20 series 2-1, but it is in the midst of a bowler injury crisis with Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Mitch Marsh and Sean Abbott all going down during the T20 series.

Meanwhile, Adam Zampa is already missing the tour while on paternity leave.

Starc and Marsh will return later in the ODI series, but Richardson suffered a bad hamstring injury and will miss the rest of the tour along with Abbott.

Luckily for Australia, their absences are timed with the return of Test captain Pat Cummins, who joined the team after the T20 series. Cummins hasn’t played an ODI since late 2020.

He partners Josh Hazlewood in the XI while Jhye Richardson and Ashton Agar complete Australia’s four specialist bowling spots.

Australia has seldom been seen in the 50-over game since the start of the pandemic, while this is the first time that it will be close to full strength for an ODI in 18 months.

Tuesday’s match kickstarts a run of several ODI series over the coming months as teams look to fulfil Super League commitments and prepare for the 2023 World Cup.

HOW TO WATCH

Watch Australia’s first ODI against Sri Lanka live and on-demand on Kayo. First ball from 7pm (AEST). New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Sri Lanka steal victory in third T20 | 02:54

TEAMS

Sri Lanka XI: Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananaya De Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalahne

Australia XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Josh Hazlewood

LIVE BLOG

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