Adam Zampa is named the Player of the Match for his superb spell of bowling.
AUS 155/3 after 17 overs: Stoinis win it in style. 16 off 7 balls and that is the match. Australia cruise to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka. A professional performance with the ball and the bat by the Aussies.
AUS 140/3 after 16 overs: Australia need 15 runs in 24 balls. Easy does it. SL’s pacers have disappointed today.
AUS 130/3 after 15 overs: WICKET! Warner finds the fielder in the deep as Shanaka strikes. The left-hander made 65 off 42 balls. Shots played all around the park. The kind of innings we have come to expect from him. Warner c Rajapaksa b Shanaka 65(42
AUS 124/2 after 14 overs: Australia need 31 runs in 36 balls from this point on.
AUS 112/2 after 13 overs: Steady over from Hasaranga (4-0-22-2) but he is now done. Australia favourites to win this easily.
AUS 108/2 after 12 overs: Warner gets to his 50 off 31 balls. This innings has been a long time coming. Australia needed this. Warner needed this.
AUS 100/2 after 11 overs: Five runs off the Hasaranga over. Smith has 11 off 11 balls and that has helped SL a bit.
AUS 95/2 after 10 overs: Warner (43 off 26) playing superbly today. It has been a while since we saw him bat in such a fashion. Smith really just needs to hang on. SL, at the same stage, had reached 78.
AUS 80/2 after 8.3 overs: Wicket! Maxwell finds the fielder in the deep as Hasaranga strikes again. The big grounds sure make a difference. Maxwell c Avishka Fernando b Hasaranga 5(6)
AUS 76/1 after 8 overs: Warner continues to attack and this is exactly what Australia need him to do.
AUS 70/1 after 6.5 overs: WICKET! Finch edges that back onto the stumps. Hasaranga with the wicket that SL desperately needed. A great knock by Finch who has struggled for form in the recent past. Finch b Hasaranga 37(23)
AUS 63/0 after 6 overs: The highest Powerplay score in the tournament. Sri Lanka have bowled poorly and the Aussies have taken full advantage.
AUS 56/0 after 5 overs: The Aussies are off to a flyer and the Lankans aren’t helping themselves by dropping sitter. Perera dropped an easy catch behind the wickets. It almost looped to him off Warner’s glove but he somehow made a mess of it. Chameera couldn’t believe it.
AUS 43/0 after 4 overs: 20 off the Kumara over. The fast he bowler, the faster it seemed to go past him. The kind of over that puts the pressure all back on Sri Lanka. Finch and Warner, both, looking good at the moment. SL will hope the spinners can do the trick for them.
AUS 23/0 after 3 overs: Chameera into the attack and it start off too well for him. A bit too full and he was driven down the ground by Finch, who looks to be in good touch today.
AUS 15/0 after 2 overs: Theekshana into the attack right away but Warner was ready to take him on with a reverse sweep with went away for a four.
AUS 9/0 after 1 over: Three great deliveries from Karunaratne in the first over and two very bad ones, which Finch promptly dispatched for fours. Australia’s chase is up and running.
SL have given themselves a chance. They have some runs on the board and the spinners to boot too. But chasing sides have done very well and Australia will be feeling confident.
SL 154/6 after 20 overs: A decent recovery for SL after they lost wickets in a heap early in the second half. They have a competitive total on the board and if the dew stays away, they will be in with a good chance.
SL 144/6 after 19 overs: One over to go and the Sri Lankans will hope to make that a big one. Rajapaksa has been striking them well.
SL 134/6 after 17.4 overs: WICKET! Shanka never got going and now, he’s walking back. Wickets for Cummins. Shanaka c Wade b Cummins 12(19)
SL 128/5 after 17 overs: 16 runs off the Stoinis over. Rajapaksa got stuck in and hit 4, 4, 6 off the second, third and fourth deliveries. Just what SL needed.
SL 111/5 after 16 overs: The runs have dried up for SL. Australia have been brilliant in the second half of the innings but a good finish for the Lankans could change that.
SL 105/5 after 15 overs: Five overs to go and the slowdown has hit SL hard. But can they get a partnership going? Can someone hit a quick 20-30?
SL 97/5 after 14 overs: Zampa finishes his 4 overs. 2/12 for the leg-spinner, who had a superb outing today. Not a single four was hit off him today.
SL 94/5 after 12.2 overs: WICKET! Hasaranga gone too. Starc again. The wickets continue to tumble. The batter took a review but it didn’t help. Hasaranga c Wade b Starc 4(2)
SL 90/4 after 11.5 overs: WICKET! Zampa gets another one. Fernando walking back now. SL losing their way a little. Avishka Fernando c Smith b Zampa 4(7)
SL 86/3 after 10.3 overs: SIX and GONE! Perera smashed a six and then Starc came back with a superb yorker. Cricket! But the two sets batters are gone. SL will need to start over now. Kusal Perera b Starc 35(25)
SL 78/2 after 9.4 overs: WICKET! Zampa strikes to send back the dangerous Asalnka (35 off 27). Hit it straight to the fielder in the deep. Time for a drinks break. Asalanka c Smith b Zampa 35(27)
SL 75/1 after 9 overs: Stoinis looked like he was bowling a good over but then Perera struck two boundaries off consecutive balls to change the narrative. The first was pure power and the second was timed to perfection. The Asalanka-Perera 50-run stand came off 36 balls.
SL 64/1 after 8 overs: Zampa into the attack and he starts off well. Just 4 runs from the over and he is getting something out of the wicket. Beat Perera with a very nice googly.
SL 60/1 after 7 overs: SL continue to roll on. Singles and twos in the over. They will be hoping Perera can come to the party today.
SL 53/1 after 6 overs: The Powerplay overs are done and SL have done very well thanks majorly to Asalanka (27 off 18).
SL 46/1 after 5 overs: Solid over by Hazlewood. After the 16-run over from Maxwell, they needed this. Just five runs off it. Asalanka did get a four but virtually nothing off the rest.
SL 41/1 after 4 overs: Big over for Sri Lanka and Asalanka! Six off the first ball from Maxwell and then a sweep shot for four. Asalanka (20 off 8 balls) started his innings with two fours off Cummins and is striking it sweetly.
SL 15/1 after 2.3 overs: WICKET! Cummins strikes to send back Nissanka. The batter, who got a four off the previous delivery, tried to go over the infield but didn’t get the distance. Easy catch. Nissanka c Warner b Cummins 7(9)
SL 11/0 after 2 overs: A four off the last ball spoiled what had been a brilliant over by Hazlewood. Perera read the length well and was in position to take full toll.
SL 6/0 after 1 over: Steady start by Starc. Nissanka and Perera kept him at bay. Important that Sri Lanka put up some big runs on the board today.
National anthems are done. We are all set for the match to begin.
Fit enough: Starc was hit on his right knee by a Mitch Marsh shot on the eve of the match but is all set to play today. His knee is heavily strapped up.
Teams: No changes for Australia. For SL - mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana comes in for Fernando.
Australia playing XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch(c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka playing XI: Kusal Perera(w), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana
Toss: Finch won the toss and Australia will bowl first. Sides that has chased have had the advantage so far. 75% of the matches in Dubai have been won by the chasing side.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Dubai. Sri Lanka mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana will attempt to bamboozle the team from Down Under today with coach Mickey Arthur backing the 21-year-old to “pose some questions”.
Theekshana claimed eight wickets in three qualifying matches last week as Sri Lanka, the 2014 champions, swept into the Super 12 stage.
However, a back injury ruled him out of the five-wicket win over Bangladesh at the weekend in a game where his team surrendered 171 runs.
On the low, slow wickets of the Gulf, spinners are key, even more so when they come armed with a bag full of tricks.
The big worry for Australia will be whether they can get their openers to fire. Finch has almost 2,500 runs in T20 internationals with a personal high of 172, the second best individual score ever made.
However, he was out for nought in Australia’s opening five-wicket win over South Africa at the weekend and has passed 50 just once in his last seven T20 innings.
Warner, meanwhile, made 14 against the Proteas after coming into the tournament having been dropped by his IPL side, Sunrisers Hyderabad.
But the left-hander has an imposing recent record against Sri Lanka with undefeated scores of 100, 60 and 57 when he last faced them on home soil in 2019.