Zeecric Bureau
Pallekele: Powered by a fine century by the skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka registered a facile win over Australia in their opening Twenty20 international on Saturday. They beat the visitors by 35 runs.
Put into bat, Sri Lanka made a huge total of 198 for 3 in the series opener. Dilshan scored 104 runs off 57 balls, which included 12 fours and 5 sixes in a match where the Australians were completely outplayed by the hosts. Dilshan`s century - his first in T20 internationals - earned him the Man of the Match award.
The only noteworthy performance from the Australians came from opener David Warner, who scored a fifty. Warner’s score of 53 came from 31 balls. Dilruwan Perera took 3 wickets for the Sri Lankans.
The Aussies left out Aaron Finch and James Pattinson from their 13-member squad, while the Sri Lankans handed a first cap to Dilruwan Perera, an offspinning allrounder and one of four slow bowlers included in the team.
The second of the two T20s will take place on August 8 in the same venue.
Australia: Cameron White (capt), David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Steven Smith, Stephen O`Keefe, Shaun Marsh, John Hastings.
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Dilruwan Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal.
