Australia ease past Sri Lanka by five wickets to fire World Cup campaign

Adam Zampa and Josh Inglis have breathed life into Australia’s ailing World Cup campaign by starring roles with the ball and the bat respectively in a five-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka.

The win in Lucknow gives Australia some room to move after they dropped their first two matches at the tournament and risked crashing out of contention for the knockout stage with another loss.

Things didn’t always come easily for Australia, who lost the toss and struggled to contain Kusal Perera (78) and Pathum Nissanka (61) during a 125-run opening partnership.

Chasing 210 after bowling Sri Lanka out, Australia’s recent batting issues threatened to resurface when David Warner (11) and Steve Smith (0) fell in the same Dilshan Madushanka over.

But ultimately, the 9-52 Sri Lankan collapse triggered by Zampa (4-47) and Pat Cummins (2-32), and Inglis’ career-best ODI knock (58 runs from 59 balls) were enough to separate the sides.

Pat Cummins bowling Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera for 78 proved a key wicket for Australia.

Once victory was in their grasp Australia, seeking to boost their net run rate, accelerated to reach the target in the 36th over.

Sri Lanka have now dropped their first three matches of the tournament and face an uphill battle to make it past the pool stage.

Makeshift opening batter Mitch Marsh (52) recaptured his pre-World Cup form on a proactive start to Australia’s innings at the crease.

Mitchell Marsh returned to form in a forceful half-century as Australia chased down Sri Lanka’s 209.

He was resolute as Warner and Smith both went lbw, the former furious at falling victim to an inconclusive DRS review that deferred to the umpire’s on-field call of out.

Inglis began a mature innings after Marsh was run out by Chamika