Illustrated Story

Hastings, Bailey lead Australia to six-wicket rout

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat, and Mitchell Starc dismissed 18-year-old debutant Avishka Fernando in the first over  Associated Press
It was down to the other opener, Dhananjaya de Silva, to hold the innings together. By the time he brought up his maiden ODI fifty, the rest of the batsmen had tallied only 19 runs  Associated Press
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Sri Lanka needed someone to lend the innings some substance, especially after Scott Boland dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, who had struck six fifties in eight one-day innings  Associated Press
Angelo Mathews, who had come in with the score at 31 for 3, helped turn the tide  Associated Press
But he was struck on the helmet, and later had to retire hurt as a result of a calf injury. He had strung 84 runs with de Silva for the fourth wicket  AFP
Then John Hastings bounced de Silva out and Sri Lanka were 121 for 4  Associated Press
Part-time spinner Travis Head had Kusal Perera caught tamely at short cover to leave Sri Lanka in deeper trouble at 134 for 6  Associated Press
A packed crowd in Dambulla were hoping for a fightback from the home side  Associated Press
Sachith Pathirana answered the call, to an extent, with a knock of 24 off 39 in the final 10 overs that helped Sri Lanka past 200  AFP
Mathews hobbled back out at the fall of the eighth wicket and, on one leg, struck a couple of fours to take his side to 212 all out  Associated Press
Hastings was the stand-out bowler for Australia; he picked up his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket and finished with 6 for 45  AFP
Aaron Finch got Australia's chase off to a blistering start, hitting eight fours and a six in the first 14 balls he faced  AFP
He went on to make his fifty off just 18 balls, equalling the fastest by an Australian  Associated Press
However, Pathirana took three wickets in the space of five balls to leave Australia at 97 for 3 in the eighth over  Associated Press
George Bailey employed sweeps and reverse sweeps to accrue his runs, as he and Head took control of Australia's chase  Associated Press
Bailey finished on an unbeaten 90 as Australia cantered to the series win with 19 overs to spare  Associated Press
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