Sharjah, Oct 5 (IANS): Megan Schutt and Sophie Molineux stood out with tight spells, while Beth Mooney anchored the chase well as Australia opened their title defence in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

Megan (3-12) and Sophie (2-20) were effective on a slow pitch and restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 93/7 in 20 overs. In reply, despite a wobble early on, Beth’s unbeaten 38-ball 43 saw Australia complete the chase with 5.4 overs remaining. She also had luck on her side when Vishmi Gunaratne dropped her catch on 22 in the ninth over.

In the first innings, Australia were on the money from the word go by stifling Sri Lanka’s run rate and picking wickets in the Power-play. Vishmi Gunaratne was trapped lbw by Megan for a ten-ball duck, followed by Ashleigh Gardner dismissing skipper Chamari Athapaththu in the same fashion for just three.

After making 23/2 at the end of the Power-play, which included Darcie Brown bowling three no-balls in her lone over, Australia got their third wicket when Sophie trapped Kavisha Dilhari lbw. Harshitha Samarawickrama tried rebuilding Sri Lanka’s innings with 23 off 25 balls, before being dismissed by Sophie through a simple caught and bowled dismissal.

Nilakshika Silva (29 not out off 40 balls) and Anushka Sanjeewani (16 off 15 balls) ensured Sri Lanka got a score on the board. But scoring continued to prove difficult, as Megan took two more wickets and Georgia Wareham got a scalp too to keep Sri Lanka seven runs short of the three-figure mark.

In the chase, Australia made a nervous start as Alyssa Healy was bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani. Kavisha nailed a direct hit to run out Georgia for three before Ellyse Perry was castled by Sugandika Kumari for 17, as Australia were in a spot of bother at 35/3.

A tired Beth, who hit four boundaries, and Ashleigh (12 off 15 balls) joined forces for a 43-run partnership for the fourth wicket to put Australia within touching distance of chasing the target. Beth fittingly hit the winning runs, with Phoebe Litchfield chipping in with a run-a-ball nine not out to kick off their campaign with a win.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 93/7 in 20 overs (Nilakshika Silva 29 not out, Harshitha Samarawickrama 23; Megan Schutt 3-12, Sophie Molineux 2-20) lost to Australia 94/4 in 14.2 overs (Beth Mooney 43 not out, Ellyse Perry 17; Sugandika Kumari 1-16) by six wickets