Dominant bowling display seals T20 series win

Scorecard: Sri Lanka 8-84 (Sashikala Siriwardena 19; Perry 2-21, Carey 1-9) lost to Australia 1-87 (Burns 30*, Mooney 28) by nine wickets at North Sydney Oval

The match in a tweet: Australia were relentless with the ball and in the field to set up an emphatic, series-sealing victory in the second T20I.

The hero: Georgia Wareham is known as one of the best fielders in the game, and she showed the crowd at North Sydney Oval exactly why with a superb direct hit run out to remove the dangerous Chamari Athapaththu in the tenth over. After her spectacular hundred in the first T20 on Sunday, Athapaththu’s wicket was always going be the one the Australians wanted. And the opener appeared in similarly imperious touch early on, striking the ball confidently with the same hard-hitting approach that saw her hit 18 boundaries on Sunday. But Wareham’s moment of magic did the job; sprinting in to a ball pushed into the covers by Harshitha Madavito, the pick-up was as clean as they come and the throw was perfect.

The support act: Allrounder Nicola Carey, playing in just her second T20I in green and gold, certainly put her hand up to play plenty more with an outstanding spell of bowling that included her first T20I wicket. Carey’s 1-9 was the equal-most economical four-over spell bowled in a women’s T20I in Australia and her teammates were not shy in celebrating with Carey.

The consolation effort: Alyssa Healy got her milestone 100th T20I match off to a familiar, explosive start, but she was stopped in her tracks by a moment of magic by Nilakshi da Silva in the field. Healy launched a Udeshika Prabodani delivery high into the air and the crowd held their breath as Da Silva sprinted, dived and eventually held onto a terrific catch at mid-on to remove Healy for 21.

 

The shake-ups: Carey and Erin Burns came into the Australia XI, taking the opportunity to make an impact with both hands. Carey’s terrific spell was followed by Burns moving up the order to come in at No. 3. Burns, showing absolutely no signs of nerves out in the middle, scored an enterprising 30 runs off 18 deliveries that included six confidently struck boundaries. Absent from the XI was Delissa Kimmince, who has knee soreness, and Ashleigh Gardner, who is managing a hamstring injury.

The stat: Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney are now the second highest scoring pair of openers in women’s T20Is, overtaking England’s Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh (939) to sit behind White Ferns duo Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine (1095).

 

The opening blow: Tayla Vlaeminck gave Australia the perfect start at North Sydney Oval, sending down an absolute thunderbolt to crash straight into opener Mendis’ middle stump in the first over of the day.

 

The milestone: Alyssa Healy pulled on the gloves for the 100th time in her ninth year of playing T20I cricket for Australia. Before the action got underway at North Sydney Oval, the Australian camp – plus Healy’s husband Mitch Starc and her mum Tracy – gathered for the team huddle with Rachael Haynes providing a fitting tribute to her teammate.

The toss: The tossing duties were once again handballed to Healy by Meg Lanning, but in her milestone match, Healy’s luck ran out as Sri Lanka won the toss. Not that the toss matters much to the Aussies; victory tonight means Australia have secured seven of their past eight T20 victories having lost the toss.

The next stop: With a series win in the bag, Australia have earned a rest day after back-to-back matches. The cricket will be back at North Sydney and back on your screen on Wednesday for the final T20I against Sri Lanka. Then, it will be time to pack up for Brisbane to play three one-dayers against Sri Lanka at Allan Border Field.

CommBank Series v Sri Lanka

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns (T20I only), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Sri Lanka T20I squad: Chamari Atapattu (c), Harshitha Madavi, Shashikala Siriwardena, Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Yashoda Mendis, Nilakshi De Silva, Dilani Manodara, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandhika Kumari, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasooriya, Udeshika Probodhani, Ama Kanchana.

First T20I: Australia won by 41 runs

Second T20I: Australia won by nine wickets

Third T20I: October 2, North Sydney Oval, 10.10am

First ODI: October 5, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Second ODI:October 7, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Third ODI: October 9, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

*All ODIs are ICC Women's Championship matches