Sri Lanka vs Australia, 14th Match at Lucknow, World Cup 2023, Oct 16 2023 - Match Result

9.40pm After suffering back-to-back losses in this World Cup, Australia get their campaign up and running with a victory over Sri Lanka in Lucknow. As for Sri Lanka, they slip to their third successive defeat in the tournament. Zampa and captain Cummins did the damage with the ball in the middle overs before Inglis and Labuschagne did the job with the bat in the middle overs in Australia's chase of 210. Marsh also contributed to the win, with 52 off 51 at the top. Hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Madushka Balasuriya, Venkat Raghav and Chandan Duorah. Goodbye and good night.

Zampa, Player of the Match: To be honest, did not feel great. Been sporting a back spasm for a couple of days but maybe bowled better [today]. I think that was the captain's decision to bowl the offspinner to the lefties...Personally, I couldn't bowl better in the last game and to be honest, I feel I can do better but good to be at the better end of the result tonight. Again, I didn't feel at my best but want to try and keep my wicket-taking attitude. We have a big game against Pakistan in Bangalore; that's going to be a tough one.

Mendis: Pathum and KP batted well for the opening partnership but after that the middle order struggled. If we scored 290-300, it would have been good on this pitch. I think we didn't rotate the strike enough and played more dots. I think the last two games we batted, but today we struggled a bit and we have six more matches to perform better. I have confidence in my batting unit. I think Madushanka bowled really well and got two early wickets. I hope Dasun and Matheesha recover quickly.

Cummins: Yeah, happy today. It was probably that nothing was said and it was just on the back of two losses...The energy in the field was nice to start with and everything else flowed. Again, they started really well but the way all the bowlers came in, hit the wicket, and did their job, it was a great effort. I can't read these wickets. About 300 [would've been par] maybe. Outside noise doesn't bother us too much. I hope so, all parts of the game came together at the end. We're sort of underway in the tournament and hope we keep it up.

Mitch Marsh speaks to Star Sports: It was a really good day for us. We came into the game with a little bit of pressure after the slow start, but our experienced guys stood up today. We're away. I wouldn't say soul-searching but there was plenty of hurt [after the loss to South Africa]. Hopefully, that's a stepping stone for us in the right direction. Just making up for his [dad's] strike rate. I felt like I was batting well tonight and I probably got ahead of myself (on the run-out). The boys were calm and the way we finished it off was great. I actually went for one over, but I was shut down. We have a heap of options - three quicks, Zampa, Maxwell, Stoin and myself. He [Cummins] always has a calm demeanor. The way he bowled and his bowling changes were fantastic. Inglis is a fighter and loves a contest. He plays spin well and backs his skills. First of all, he has power and hopefully it's the start of a long career for him.

Harin Bansal: "I don't understand why we are expecting so much from Hasaranga. He isn't a great bowler in ODIs. Look at his record. All the 5-fers, or 6-ers have against minnows during WC Qualifiers. Otherwise, he doesn't have much to show in ODIs"

Sameer Okaz: "So Australia winning this one and we might see a thrillerrr on Friday, A confident Australia vs wounded (UNPREDICTABLE) Pakistan..Woah!"

AB: "Maxwell is saving his legs. All his runs have come in boundaries...Waoww"