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Toss Australia 3 for 137 (90*Warner) v Sri Lanka
David Warner was almost solely responsible for a defensible Australian total © Associated Press
David Warner stood apart from the rest on Australia Day, punching an undefeated 90 to guide his team to 3 for 137 on a pudding of a drop-in pitch at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
While there was no switch-hit of the kind he managed in this fixture against India last year, Warner's controlled aggression was all the more admirable for the difficult surface on which he demonstrated it. The best indicators of its difficulty were to be found in the travails of the rest of Australia's top four.
Aaron Finch was again out cheaply at international level, while Shaun Marsh made an unhappy return to the national team in his first match since last summer, run out for only six. George Bailey also failed to make a score, leaving Adam Voges to offer inconspicuous but valuable support to Warner, who found it far easier than his teammates to split the field and find the boundary.
Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera were both exemplary with the ball, though Kulasekara undid much of his good work by turfing the simplest of chances at deep midwicket when Warner had made only 69.
The hosts had left out the Tasmania allrounder James Faulkner and included the seamer Ben Laughlin for his first international since 2009. This also meant a debut for the Queensland fast bowler Ben Cutting. Sri Lanka handed Kushal Perera a debut open the batting with Tillakaratne Dilshan, with Dinesh Chandimal at No. 3 and the former captain Mahela Jayawardene at No. 4.
Australia's early progress was laborious, the batsmen struggling for timing on a drop-in pitch that offered them little in the way of consistent pace. Finch's stay was ended when he tried to turn Kulasekara to the legside and proffered a front edge that was nicely held by Kushal Perera.
Marsh was soon back at the boundary's edge himself, run out by Dilshan's underarm after turning back on the most optimistic of singles, but Warner endured. Recognising the slowness of the surface, he sat on the back foot for much of the time, punching shorter balls through the offside and only swinging straight at the fullest of deliveries.
It proved an effective method, and after Bailey perished to another mistimed stroke, Voges hung in to allow Warner to push Australia to a better total than they might have imagined at 3 for 53 after nine overs. Nonetheless a total of 137 will require diligent bowling to defend.
David Warner was almost solely responsible for a defensible Australian total © Associated Press
David Warner stood apart from the rest on Australia Day, punching an undefeated 90 to guide his team to 3 for 137 on a pudding of a drop-in pitch at Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
While there was no switch-hit of the kind he managed in this fixture against India last year, Warner's controlled aggression was all the more admirable for the difficult surface on which he demonstrated it. The best indicators of its difficulty were to be found in the travails of the rest of Australia's top four.
Aaron Finch was again out cheaply at international level, while Shaun Marsh made an unhappy return to the national team in his first match since last summer, run out for only six. George Bailey also failed to make a score, leaving Adam Voges to offer inconspicuous but valuable support to Warner, who found it far easier than his teammates to split the field and find the boundary.
Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera were both exemplary with the ball, though Kulasekara undid much of his good work by turfing the simplest of chances at deep midwicket when Warner had made only 69.
The hosts had left out the Tasmania allrounder James Faulkner and included the seamer Ben Laughlin for his first international since 2009. This also meant a debut for the Queensland fast bowler Ben Cutting. Sri Lanka handed Kushal Perera a debut open the batting with Tillakaratne Dilshan, with Dinesh Chandimal at No. 3 and the former captain Mahela Jayawardene at No. 4.
Australia's early progress was laborious, the batsmen struggling for timing on a drop-in pitch that offered them little in the way of consistent pace. Finch's stay was ended when he tried to turn Kulasekara to the legside and proffered a front edge that was nicely held by Kushal Perera.
Marsh was soon back at the boundary's edge himself, run out by Dilshan's underarm after turning back on the most optimistic of singles, but Warner endured. Recognising the slowness of the surface, he sat on the back foot for much of the time, punching shorter balls through the offside and only swinging straight at the fullest of deliveries.
It proved an effective method, and after Bailey perished to another mistimed stroke, Voges hung in to allow Warner to push Australia to a better total than they might have imagined at 3 for 53 after nine overs. Nonetheless a total of 137 will require diligent bowling to defend.