Player of the Match
Player of the Match

5:58pm Right. That will be that from us for tonight. Do join us tomorrow as Bangladesh take on New Zealand in another clutch Women's T20 World Cup clash. Until next time, this is me (Shashwat) signing off on behalf of K Vairavan and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo. Goodbye, goodnight and take care!

Meg Lanning, Australia captain: A great game today. The bowlers set the game up. Grace Harris coming in and bowling that way was excellent. (On what makes Australia tick) Just people standing up at different times. Someone like Ash Gardner did not bowl as many overs today but she can perform that role too. I enjoyed the 3pm start today. Looked like the wicket turned a little more in the afternoon and skidded on later. We adapt as we go. Looking forward to it (the game against South Africa). They have some world-class players. We will take a bit of a break tomorrow and come back again after it. The support has been incredible (for us) and please keep it coming.

Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka captain: I think we had to score more than 150 on this wicket. Unfortunately, we did not score that many and that is the reason we lost this game. We tried our best to score more runs in the powerplay. We are not batting well in the middle overs and we did not execute our plans. They batted really well. They executed their plans. We have to bowl in the right areas and take wickets early otherwise we can't restrict such teams. We will try our best to play positive cricket (against New Zealand). We don't have any pressure and we just want to play our natural game.

Alyssa Healy, Player of the Match: Tough going at times but nice to get the points. Nice to play a good game as a group. (On her partnership with Mooney) I just think we complement each other quite nicely. The left-right combination also helps. She hits unique pockets and that is what makes her so good. We trust one another out there. The wicket played pretty well. It stayed a little low and took a bit of turn. It stayed true throughout. We have the likes of Jess Jonassen sitting on the bench and that shows the strength we have.

5:45pm Well, that turned into a very one-sided contest in the end. This was another dominant display by Australia - the sort of performance that reminds people just why they are favourites to retain their title. Mooney looked a little scratchy at the start but she soon found her range, scoring a vital fifty. Healy, meanwhile, looked in good touch throughout her innings and that is an excellent omen for Australia moving forward.

Sri Lanka's bowlers kept things tight in the powerplay but when defending such a low score, wickets were what they needed. They could not quite break through and once Australia's openers established themselves at the crease, the result seemed a foregone conclusion. All is not lost for them, though. They still sit second on the points table and if they can beat New Zealand in their final group game, they will fancy their chances of going through. Australia, meanwhile, have taken another giant stride towards qualification and the way they are playing, would be expecting to finish at the top of the pile in group 1.

15.5
1
Ranasinghe to Healy, 1 run, that will be that! Full and at the stumps. Healy advances and nonchalantly punches it down the ground to complete a convincing victory for the defending champions!

Scores level now. Can Healy finish it off in style?

15.4
1
Ranasinghe to Mooney, 1 run, full delivery just outside off stump. Mooney bunts it towards mid on, where the fielder misfields. Mooney thinks about the second but Healy is not interested at all
15.3
1
Ranasinghe to Healy, 1 run, short delivery outside off stump. Healy cuts it towards extra cover and completes the single quite comfortably
15.2
1
Ranasinghe to Mooney, 1 run, back of a length delivery on middle and leg stump. Mooney waits and pulls it away towards deep backward square leg
15.1
4
Ranasinghe to Mooney, FOUR, beautiful! Flighted into the slot outside off stump. Mooney comes out of her bunker and crunches it over extra cover

END OF OVER:
15 | 5 Runs | AUS-W: 105/0 (8 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 1.60)

  • Beth Mooney50 (50b)
  • Alyssa Healy52 (41b)
  • Malsha Shehani3-0-15-0
  • Chamari Athapaththu2-0-12-0
14.6
1
Shehani to Mooney, 1 run, full delivery outside off stump. Mooney lunges forward and chips it down the ground towards long off for a single. Gets to fifty too, and that will come as a relief to Australia!
14.5
0
Shehani to Mooney, no run, length delivery on leg stump. Mooney gets inside the line of the ball and helps it down to short fine leg
14.4
1
Shehani to Healy, 1 run, length delivery on leg stump. Healy advances and turns it behind square on the leg side for one more run
14.3
1
Shehani to Mooney, 1 run, back of a length delivery outside off stump. Mooney eases it into the off side and canters across to the other end
14.2
1
Shehani to Healy, 1 run, back of a length delivery on middle and leg stump that hurries onto the batter. Healy gets onto the back foot and clogs her pull towards deep mid wicket
14.1
1
Shehani to Mooney, 1 run, back of a length delivery outside off stump. Mooney camps in her crease and punches it towards deep cover point for a single

Just 13 runs needed for victory now. Can Australia finish it off in this over?

END OF OVER:
14 | 8 Runs | AUS-W: 100/0 (13 runs required from 36 balls, RR: 7.14, RRR: 2.16)

  • Alyssa Healy50 (39b)
  • Beth Mooney47 (46b)
  • Chamari Athapaththu2-0-12-0
  • Inoka Ranaweera3-0-26-0
13.6
0
Athapaththu to Healy, no run, very full delivery on middle and leg stump. Healy backs away a touch and digs it out into the off side
13.5
4
Athapaththu to Healy, FOUR, length delivery on off stump. Healy gets in position for the reverse hit and slams it past backward point to bring up her fifty, off just 38 balls!
13.5
1nb
Athapaththu to Healy, 1 no ball, oh dear, what has happened there? Dragged down considerably and that might be a riposte to Healy shimmying around. But this one bounces more than once and Healy then misses. Called a No ball though
13.4
1
Athapaththu to Mooney, 1 run, full delivery at the stumps. Mooney advances and works it into the on side for one more run
13.3
0
Athapaththu to Mooney, no run, length delivery on middle and leg stump. Mooney closes the bat face early and gets a leading edge that bobbles down to short third man
13.2
1
Athapaththu to Healy, 1 run, very full delivery on leg stump. Healy jams it into the off side and calls her partner through for the single
13.1
1
Athapaththu to Mooney, 1 run, full delivery on middle and off stump. Mooney gets to the pitch of the ball and eases it down the ground for a single

Athapaththu to continue

END OF OVER:
13 | 10 Runs | AUS-W: 92/0 (21 runs required from 42 balls, RR: 7.07, RRR: 3.00)

  • Alyssa Healy45 (35b)
  • Beth Mooney45 (43b)
  • Inoka Ranaweera3-0-26-0
  • Chamari Athapaththu1-0-4-0
12.6
2
Ranaweera to Healy, 2 runs, full delivery outside off stump. Healy gives herself a bit of room and drives it down the ground for a couple of runs
12.5
1
Ranaweera to Mooney, 1 run, full delivery on off stump. Mooney comes down the track again and tucks it away towards deep mid wicket
12.4
4
Ranaweera to Mooney, FOUR, clean as a whistle! Back of a length delivery outside off stump. Mooney gives the bowler the charge and caresses it over mid off for four
12.3
1
Ranaweera to Healy, 1 run, length delivery on leg stump. Healy advances, is not to the pitch of the ball and drags it behind square on the leg side for one more run
12.2
1
Ranaweera to Mooney, 1 run, back of a length delivery outside off stump. Mooney goes back and jabs it towards backward point

Women's T20 World Cup News