Sri Lanka v Australia, 1st T20I - 5 Talking Points

The first Sri Lanka vs Australia T20 international at Pallekele had Glenn Maxwell written all over it. While Maxwell went on to plunder 145 runs from just 65 deliveries, the Aussies went on to clinch a mammoth win as the Sri Lanka batting capitulated courtesy of the steamy pace of the Australians on the day.

Dinesh Chadimal waged a lone battle for his side with a courageous and valiant half century, something that would eventually go in vain. While there were indeed a plethora of talking points in the match, we take a look at five of these major talking points that transpired in the match.

1. Aussie batsmen make intentions clear:

Right from the word go the Australian openers trounced the Sri Lankan bowlers. In somewhat of a surprise, it was Glenn Maxwell who made his way out to open the innings with skipper David Warner. The latter began the festivities as he clobbered the ball all around the park. Usman Khawaja also played an impressive hand with the bat as he managed 36 runs from 22 deliveries.

2. Glenn Maxwell blasts the Lankan bowlers all over the park:

As mentioned earlier. Glenn Maxwell was the toast of the town. As if he took the cue from his skipper, Maxwell settled into his new role as an opener with a few big hits over the fence followed by a few massive blows along the ground into the boundary fence. If the build up to his century was somewhat slow, he simply shifted to a higher gear in the few deliveries after reaching his ton. Striking at a rate well over 200, Maxwell remained unbeaten on 145, his best performance by a country mile since his axe a few days prior to the start of the Lankan series. Needless to say, his ton included 14 boundaries and 9 massive sixes.

Also read – SL v Aus 1st T20I Review: Maxwell’s comeback heroics help Australia crush Sri Lanka

3. Travis Head chips in with an important knock:

Travis Head’s international career has been somewhat of a blur thus far with the Aussie selectors choosing to give the youngster time to settle into the fold. This time, however, the faith the selectors had put in him had well and truly paid off. He smashed 45 runs off just 18 deliveries in a knock that saw him smash 4 boundaries and 3 sixes, something that immensely contributed to Australia’s mammoth score of 263 in 20 overs.

4. Australian bowlers hammer Lankans into the ground:

With the Australian batsmen able to smash the ball to different parts of the ground, it was highly expected that the Lankan batsmen would not have much of a problem batting on this surface. However, with the likes of Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland picking up wickets in tandem, it was clear that the Lankans would not have it as easy as they would have liked. Starc and Boland picked 3 wickets apiece while the rest of the bowlers concluding with one wicket each.

5. Dinesh Chandimal wages lone battle:

While the majority of the Sri Lankan batting unit was pretty much blown away by the pace of Starc and Boland, skipper Dinesh Chandimal was perhaps the only one who impressed with the bat. He managed a decent 58 before becoming a victim of Scott Boland. The only other contribution came from Chamara Kapugedera who managed 43 off just 25 deliveries.

Also read – Twitter Reactions: Unreal hitting from Glenn Maxwell takes Australia 1-0 up