ICC World Cup 2015: Australia vs Sri Lanka - Player Ratings
Australia
Aaron Finch - 2/10
Finch could not get Australia to a flying start as he usually does, but his presence in the crease for 24 balls made sure Australia didn’t lose two quick wickets early.
David Warner - 1/10
Warner was troubled by Malinga’s inswingers and yorkers early in his innings, but was then undone by a slower ball which he drove straight into the hands of short cover.
Steve Smith - 8/10
Coming in to bat during the fifth over and then seeing Finch get out in the 9th over, Smith had the huge responsibility of having to anchor Australia’s innings at number three, which he did brilliantly again. Smith scored 72 runs off 88 balls.
Michale Clarke - 8/10
Coming back from injury, Clarke was at his fluent best scoring a run-a-ball 68. He occupied the crease and set the platform for Maxwell to launch from.
Glen Maxwell - 10/10
Maxwell had missed out on reaching a ton in Australia’s second game of the World Cup but he made sure he didn’t miss out on another one as he brought up his first ODI century at the SCG on Sunday. The most important facet of his century was the number of balls he took to reach the milestone as he walloped 102 runs off just 53 balls.
Shane Watson - 7/10
Watson replaced Mitchell Marsh in this game and was asked to bat at number 5. The demotion seemed to work for him as he rushed to 67 runs off just 41 balls. With the ball, using his immense experience, the medium pacer priced out the wicket of Angelo Mathews which was a watershed moment in the match.
James Faulkner - 5/10
Faulkner got out for a duck, running himself out after facing a ball. But with the ball in hand, he slowed down Sri Lanka’s chase in the middle overs using his back-of-the-hand slower balls to good effect. He also picked up the all-important wicket of Dilshan.
Brad Haddin - 8/10
Batting at number 8, Haddin had the responsibility of finishing Australia’s innings after Maxwell got out just before the innings was done. Haddin smashed 25 runs off 9 balls and made sure Austalia got to a total of 370+ which proved crucial in the end.
Mitchell Johnson - 7/10
Johnson managed to break Sri Lanka’s opening partnership which was the migraine for oppositions in the last two matches. Despite being hit for 6 fours in an over, Johnson came back very well to bowl good spells during the powerplay and at the death.
Mitchell Starc - 9/10
He is, arguably, the best death overs bowler at the moment, bowling yorkers consistently. In a match in which both teams crossed 300 runs, Starc’s economy read 3.48. He also picked up two wickets towards the end.
Xavier Doherty - 2/10
Doherty getting his first game of the tournament failed to impress with the ball as the Sri Lankan batsmen, as expected, targeted him with big shots.