The Australian Masters have put up a hefty total of 217/4 runs batting first against Sri Lanka Masters in Vadodara on Friday. This is the second match for the Australia Masters in the IMLT20. They headed into this game after winning their campaign opener against West Indies Masters.
Sri Lanka Masters skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and asked Australia Masters to bat first. The decision was gleefully accepted by the Australian side. Despite losing skipper Shane Watson early, Ben Dunk and Shaun Marsh scored fifties and laid the platform for a big finish from Australia.
Shaun Marsh (77 off 49 balls) and Ben Dunk (56 off 29 balls) added 101 runs for the second wicket. While Marsh scored at a strike rate of 150, Dunk scored at a strike rate of almost 200. They did not allow the Sri Lankan bowlers to bowl on a flat Vadodara wicket. After adding 101 runs with BenDuck, Marsh added another 54-run partnership with Dan Christian (34 off 13).
Shaun Marsh, Ben Duck Make Crucial Contributions
For Australia, it was a continuation of partnerships first between Marsh and Dunk and then between Marsh and Christian. The former Australian left-handed opener was dismissed for 77 in the 18th over of the innings but not before he had done his job with the bat. The Australian batters batted with a lot of intent which helped them post a total above 200 in the end. Isuru Udana's final over went for 18 helping the Aussies to get to 217/4 at the end of their 20 overs.
The Lankan bowlers found it hard to restrict the Australian batters from scoring runs. Every bowler barring Jeevan Mendis had an economy rate of 9 or more. Dhammika Prasad went for nearly 12 runs per over while Chaturanga de Silva went at 15.30.
It was a brilliant batting display from the Australian batters in the end who finally scored with the batters getting a good hit-out session on the pitch. The bowlers did not have anywhere to hide in the flat Vadodara pitch.
The Lankan side now have an uphill task of chasing down 218 runs to win their second match of the tournament. They have won one and lost one in the first two games. The Aussies meanwhile lost their first encounter of the season.
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