ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Aaron Finch, Travis Head lead Australia to win over Sri Lanka in warm-up

Nuwan Pradeep got one to go past Aaron Finch’s bat. The ball castled Finch. In came the destructive Glenn Maxwell and Australia wouldn’t have been worried about the chase. After all, one attacking batsman was replacing the other. But Pradeep had other plans, he dismissed Maxwell off the first ball to reduce Australia to 218 for the loss of five wickets in chase of 319-run target.

But, Sri Lanka would not have thought that the batsman at the other end, Travis Head, would steal the victory for Australia in the warm-up game between the two sides before the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Head made an unbeaten 85 and played a brilliant anchor with the tail to guide his team home in thrilling two-wicket win at The Oval. Pat Cummins was the other not out batsman for Australia.

Finch was the star in chase as he reached his century off just 76 balls and with a six off Gunaratne. The twin strikes of Pradeep did slow down Australia but a dropped catch of Head proved costly in the end.

Australia rested regular skipper Steve Smith and pacer Mitchell Starc for the match and named a 12-man squad with Josh Hazlewood only included for bowling.

Australia open their Champions Trophy campaign against New Zealand and Finch consolidated his spot at the top of the order. But there will be some trouble signs for Chris Lynn, Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell who failed in the warm-up game.

For Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews struck a handsome 95 and later Asela Gunaratne’s unbeaten 70 went in vain. Mathews walked into bat when Sri Lanka were three down. He, along with Gunaratne, did the recovery job for Sri Lanka, who were once reduced to 152 for five.

Mathews was back in the side after a six-month injury lay-off and reminded everyone of his importance in the side. The skipper was slow to reach his half-century but then upped the ante. Before falling in the 44th over, he had made 95 runs.

Sri Lanka added 61 runs in the final five overs, thanks to Gunaratne and Seekkuge Prasanna’s attacking cricket. The late surge helped Sri Lanka reach 318 for the loss of seven wickets.

Courtesy : indianexpress