Leg-spinner Adam Zampa on Monday played through pain to return figures of 4-47 and help Australia down Sri Lanka by five wickets for their first win of the Cricket World Cup.
The five-time winners bundled out Sri Lanka for 209, a total they overhauled in 35.2 overs at a windswept Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, India.
Zampa was named man of the match in Australia’s first win in three matches, but the 31-year-old said it had been tough coming into the match.
Photo: AFP
“To be honest, I wasn’t feeling great, because I had a bit of a back spasm,” Zampa said. “I was playing through it the last couple of days. Today I felt better, bowled better.”
Former champions Sri Lanka slipped to a third loss in as many games.
The drama on the field may have been limited, but that was not the case in the stands.
After rain interrupted Sri Lanka’s batting, strong winds brought scaffolding and hoardings crashing down onto the seats below. With only about 3,000 people inside the 50,000-capacity ground, spectators managed to escape injury.
However, Australia’s reply was delayed when the umpires felt it unsafe to restart the match with high winds still a danger.
Once the game resumed, opener Mitchell Marsh smashed 52 and wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Inglis made 58.
Marsh led the chase after Australia lost two early wickets — David Warner for 11 and Steve Smith for a duck — to slip to 24-2.
Marsh reached his first 50 in a World Cup off 39 balls, but was soon run out after attempting a second run with Marnus Labuschagne, who hit 40.
Labuschagne and Inglis put on a key stand of 77 to deny the thin crowd of any late drama.
Left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka broke the partnership to send back Labuschagne for his third wicket and spinner Dunith Wellalage got Inglis.
But Glenn Maxwell, who hit a 21-ball 31, took the team home with Marcus Stoinis, who made 20, for company.
Pat Cummins was under attack for his captaincy in the opening two losses.
“Outside noise doesn’t bother us too much,” Cummins said. “All parts of the game came together at the end. We’re underway in the tournament and hope we keep it up.”
Earlier, Sri Lanka elected to bat first and started with a 125-run opening stand between Pathum Nissanka (61) and Kusal Perera (78), before the opposition bowlers hit back to end the innings in 43.3 overs.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
RSS