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Pat Cummins’ Australia’s poor struggles seem to be never-ending in this World Cup. On the first ball of the match against Sri Lanka, there was a huge shout for lbw but the umpire was not convinced. Cummins chose to review but it turned out to be a waste of a review as there was a thick inside edge off the bat before it even managed to hit the pad. Also, the massive in-swinger from Mitchell Starc would have clipped the leg stump at best.
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch in the commentary box summed up the DRS call as he said "That can happen when you feel desperate".
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The third umpire Chris Brown did not even check where the ball was pitching as he stayed with the decision of the on-field umpire after seeing a massive ultraedge.
Pathum Nissanka hit Starc for two boundaries in the first over itself. Later in the first powerplay overs, Glenn Maxwell appealed against Kusal Perera but the umpire turned down the appeal. Cummins decided against using DRS but the hawkeye showed three reds meaning it would have gone on to hit the stumps and not just clipping them.
Perera and Nissanka shared a 125-run partnership from 130 balls. Nissanka scored 61 runs from 57 deliveries including eight fours. Cummins broke the partnership as David Warner took an excellent catch. This was the second instance of two Sri Lankan openers scoring fifty-plus runs against Australia in World Cups. Also, it is the sixth instance of two openers scoring fifty-plus runs against the five-time champions in the tournament's history.
Earlier, Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis won the toss and opted to bat first at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. Cummins did not make any changes to the side that lost to South Africa at the same venue in their last encounter. On the other hand, Mendis replaced Matheesha Pathirana for Lahiru Kumara and injured Dasun Shanaka with Chamika Karunaratne.
Before the match against Sri Lanka, Australia were at the bottom of the points table with two losses in the tournament so far. Australia slipped to the 10th spot after Afghanistan defeated defending champions England by 69 runs at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on October 15.
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