In an evening of collapses, Australia rediscover Australian way to beat Sri Lanka | Cricket-world-cup News

It was an evening of collapses. In the stands, minutes before Australia shut out Sri Lanka, the World Cup-logo imprinted hoardings of the boudin-shaped roof fell dangerously and dramatically into the pale-blue seats. Some clung onto the edges of the frame and flapped violently in the breeze that kicked up from nowhere. Spectators fled their seats to the safety of the corridors, its entrance carved like the guards’ perch of Mughal forts. There were intermittent power outages, a brling spell of rain that stopped the game for half an hour and a gust of dust-storm. But Sri Lanka and Australia combined to script the biggest collapse story, one that rivals Pakan’s the other day in Ahmedabad in its suddenness, though without the cruelly partisan crowd shrieking hostilities in their ears. From cruising along at 125 for no loss in the 22nd over, Sri Lanka tottered, horribly, to 209 in the 44th over. The Australian chase wasn’t without hiccups—they were 2 for 24 and 3 for 81—but they wrapped up the chase with 15 overs to spare and five wickets intact.
Australia needed a match like this, to restore confidence, to rebuild their campaign, to heave a sigh of relief at last. The victory did not set a victory-template—some things are falling into place, but there are things yet to fall into place—but there is belief too. Whether this inspires a dramatic turnaround or not, until they meet Pakan, they could dream, hope and take a deep breath of relief. There is something to clutch onto. Hence perhaps the mild celebrations after Marcus Stoinis sealed the game with a six.
Australia’s Marcus Stoinis hits a six to win against Sri Lanka five wickets during ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Lucknow, India, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Finally, two-and-a-half games into the tournament, Australia rediscovered Australia. The fight, the energy, the belief and every single emotion that you associate with them. It was loosely what Pat Cummins had described as the Australian way of playing the game. “When we’re at our best, we’re putting big runs on the board. We’re putting the pressure back into the opposition. Us bowlers are taking wickets through the middle. So, we haven’t been able to pull any of that together so far,” he had said. In parts, they managed to play the Australian way.
The brightest light was the reemergence of their old-hands, their flatness held responsible for the shocking start. Cummins was the central protagon—it is little coincidence that the spirit of the team picks up when the captain puts on an inspired show. In his second spell, Cummins produced his best of the tournament, bowling with aggression and hostility; he was nasty and mean, bowling with the anger of a rebel. He conjured the wicket that turned the game on its head. The ball that blasted the stumps of Kusal Perera was his staple stuff—angling in from around the stumps to the left-hander, beating him with pace, angle and marginal away movement. But it meant a lot to him. His celebrations are usually mild, a beatific smile spreads over his face. But here, he snarled, the veins of his neck and arms popping out, and punched the air.
His team could sense something special unfolding. Just a few overs ago David Warner kept them in the game with a stunning catch of Pathum Nissanka to end a 125-run partnership. Baited to pull Cummins, Nissanka top-edged and Warner ran from the square-leg fence to midwicket to pouch the catch. Hitherto, Australia had looked utterly deflated, as though they were living the first two games again. Inept bowling, reckless fielding and dodgy strategies had come to haunt them again. But as the old truism goes, or to tweak the unimaginative tournament caption, (it takes a day) it takes just a moment of brilliance on the field or a splendid ball to change the tide, to re-instil belief and hope.
Australia’s Adam Zampa celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Lucknow, India, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Suddenly there was a buzz, a rush of energy, a surge of dopamine. They were noisier and nastier. Then men saving singles became catchers. Energy seized the strides of bowlers. Wickets were moments of wild celebrations. There was joy again in the way Australia played, and there was joy again in watching them play, forging a comeback from another difficult match. At 125 for 0, they would see the hopes of reclaiming the World Cup sinking beyond their horizons. But then Australia always bounces back, from the edge, from the slope, from being written off.
Another condemned and criticized Australian bowler, Adam Zampa, chose this moment to strike back. He nailed Sri Lanka’s mainstay Kusal Mendis, teasing him with the googly and cross-seamer (that slips into the right-hander) before dangling the leg-break. Mendis unpacked his sweep, one of his high percentage strokes. He miscued and Warner clawed it, before he let out a scream of rage that could have been heard as far as the shopping mall in the outer edges of the stadium. Most Read
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Abruptly, Sri Lanka trembled. They looked dazzled, thoughts and ideas blanking out. When they needed ice-veined batsmen, they got muddle-headed ones. Be it lack of experience or skill, or perhaps both, no one knew how to stop the rot. Instead panic set in, they wilted like the claddings of the roof. Zampa, a force reborn, consumed Sadeera Samarawickrama with his cross-seamer that skidded onto hit the pads. From then on, Australia swaggered, like the Australia of the old.
Then whled in the rain, but post the break, Sri Lanka seemed even more rattled. Australia sensed this fear and they ratcheted up the ante, going for the jugular. Mitchell Starc, bowling as fast as he had in this tournament, winked out the tentative Dhananjaya de Silva with a ball that angled into him from around the stumps. De Silva played down the wrong line and inside-edged the ball back onto his furniture. Bafflingly, most of Sri Lanka’s batsmen perished playing down the wrong line—Perera, Samarawickrama and de Silva.
This was typical of Sri Lanka in this tournament, a lack of snuffing out the match when the opportunity arises, stalling them in all three games. Against Pakan, they could have stretched the total beyond 350 but for the last four wickets falling for 20 runs. Versus South Africa, they lost the steam in the middle overs, losing three wickets for 41 runs. A team as seasoned as Australia, in dire need to turn their campaign around, were not in a merciful mood to get them away lightly. But whether this moment sparks a reversal of fortunes has to be seen. Their fate is akin to the hoarding flapping in the air, one end still fastened to the roof, the other a breeze away from a free-fall, but still clutching on.