Sri Lanka were 131 for the loss of one wicket in 19 overs in their World Cup match against Australia at The Oval on Saturday.
They were chasing a target of 335 runs. Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera gave their team a solid start as they formed a partnership of 100-plus runs.
Skipper Aaron Finch’s brilliant 153 had lifted Australia to an imposing a total of 334 for seven.
The Australian skipper flayed the Sri Lanka attack all around the ground as the defending champions accelerated smoothly in the second half of their innings to set up a strong position from which to secure their fourth win of the tournament.
After Sri Lanka had won the toss, Finch and David Warner shared a solid opening partnership of 80 before Warner, on 26, was bowled by spinner Dhananjaya de Silva as he tried to cut a straight ball.
Usman Khawaja was caught low down at square leg by Isuru Udana off De Silva for 10, bringing former captain Steve Smith to the crease.
Finch launched De Silva for successive sixes and the right-hander lifted Milinda Siriwardana for another maximum to reach three figures off 97 deliveries.
Finch moved past 150 and must have had his sights on a double century when he skied Udana to extra cover to end a stand of 173 after hitting five sixes and 15 fours.
Smith was bowled by Lasith Malinga for 73 as Australia’s momentum stalled briefly but despite a flurry of late wickets, Glenn Maxwell’s quickfire unbeaten 46 ensured his team posted a very competitive total.
Sri Lanka, whose last two matches were washed out, have struggled with the bat recently and will have to show a big improvement to pull off the highest successful World Cup run chase and notch up their second victory of the tournament.
Earlier, Karunaratne had opted to take advantage of cloudy conditions and a moist pitch at The Oval as he looked to put Sri Lanka in position for their second win of the tournament and elected to bowl first.
“The last few days, it has rained so we want to take advantage of the moisture in the surface by bowling first,” said Karunaratne, whose team had seen their previous two matches abandoned due to rain.
Finch had admitted that he would have bowled first if he had won the toss.
“I haven’t won a toss for such a long time. I would have bowled first too. I think it will swing around so we’ll have to bat well,” Finch said.
Australia made one change, with Jason Behrendorff replacing Nathan Coulter-Nile who was ruled out after feeling “a little bit sore”.
Teams
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wkt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Kane Richardson
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera (wkt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Lasith Malinga
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Richard Illingworth (ENG), TV umpire: Michael Gough (ENG), Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
