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Opinion
Australia last night steamrolled to a 2-0 series lead in their T20I series against a Sri Lankan side that has looked completely out of its depth.
The tourists limped to 117 before Australia cantered to victory with nine wickets and 42 balls to spare as David Warner (60* from 41 balls) and Steve Smith (53* from 36 balls) underlined their class.
Warner continued his resounding return to form after making 100* in Adelaide on Sunday. Last night he looked compact and balanced while picking the gaps beautifully and running very well between wickets.
That description also sums up the effort of Smith. The world’s number one Test batsman still has plenty of doubters as a T20 cricketer but underlined last night that there is room in the shortest format for a deft touch.
(Photo by PATRICK HAMILTON/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier, Australia’s attack produced a second consecutive clinical performance after restricting Sri Lanka to 9-99 in the series opener. Even without star quick Mitchell Starc, who was attending his brother’s wedding, Australia’s bowling was impressively sharp.
Opening bowlers Kane Richardson and Billy Stanlake kept things tight in the early overs. After Kusal Mendis was run out in a mix up, Stanlake produced a beautiful delivery that castled opener Danushka Gunathilaka. Stanlake worried the Sri Lankan top order with his pace and, perhaps even more so, his steepling bounce on his home deck at the Gabba.
He later dismissed Dasun Shanaka with a rapid short ball to finish with 2-23 from four overs, continuing his fine start to his T20I career. From 18 matches Stanlake has taken 27 wickets at 19.
Test and ODI star Pat Cummins also made the most of the pace and lift offered by the Brisbane pitch. Despite having only played two T20Is in the two-and-a-half years prior to this current series, Cummins has looked very comfortable in the shortest format so far.
Bowling a mix of length deliveries, short balls, cutters, slower balls and even off-pace bouncers, Cummins ensured that the Sri Lankan batsmen were kept guessing. After taking 2-27 from four overs in the series opener, he snared 2-29 from four overs yesterday.
Yet what has really glued Australia’s attack together in this series has been the suffocating overs sent down by their spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar. That pair combined have bowled 16 overs for a return of 8-74, at an economy rate of 4.62 runs per over. The pace and flight exploited by Australia’s spinners has been particularly significant.
As Zampa’s ODI form has waned, it has been noticeable how much flatter he has bowled in that format. At his best he trusts himself to toss the ball up and beat batsmen in the flight. That was just what he did repeatedly yesterday as Zampa complemented quicker, flatter deliveries with some tantalising loop. Both of his wickets came from stumpings as he collected 2-20 from four overs.
Agar, meanwhile, continued his encouraging development in T20Is as he took 2-27 from four overs. Just like he did in the opening game, when he recorded 1-13 from four overs, the left-armer changed up his pace superbly. The West Australian’s biggest strength as a T20 bowler is the way in which he can adjust from 85kmh to 100kmh without an obvious change in action.
Since returning to the Australian T20I team last year, Agar has been very frugal, going at just 6.65 runs per over from 15 matches. By comparison, Sri Lanka’s bowlers again were unable to build any pressure on the home batsmen. The first two matches have been extremely lopsided and it’s hard to see anything but a 3-0 result.