Skipper Aaron Finch led from the front with a century to power Australia to the top of the ICC 2019 World Cup standings following a commanding 87-run win over Sri Lanka at the Oval on Saturday.
In a match affected by rain, Finch equalled a career-best 153 to steer the Aussies to 334 for seven, their third consecutive 300-plus total in the tournament, before pacer Mitchell Starc helped roll over the Sri Lankans for 247 all out chasing a revised 335.
Starc continued his good form with four wickets for 55 runs as skipper Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne’s fine 97 and 52 from Kusal Perera were all in vain.
The win pushed the Aussies to eight points on the 10-team table, one more than second-placed New Zealand. England (6 pts) and India (5 pts) are next with the Indians in action on Sunday against Pakistan.
Earlier, Finch shared in a partnership of 173 with Steve Smith, who made 73, on his way to his 14th ODI hundred and the tournament’s highest total thus far. He reached his hundred off 97 balls with a six over long off and many felt he was good for a double hundred before he was out to pacer Isuru Udana at cover. Finch’s innings also included 15 fours and five sixes.
Udana (2/57) and Dhananjaya De Silva (2/40) both finished with two wickets.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
Australia 334-7 (Aaron Finch 153, Steve Smith 73, Isuru Udana 2/57, Dhananjaya de Silva 2/20 ) v Sri Lanka 247 all out (Dimuth Karunaratne 97, Mitchell Starc 4-55, Kane Richardson 3-47, Pat Cummins 2-38).
Result: Australia won by 87 runs