Spinners, Healy, Mooney take Australia closer to semi-final
Schutt also picked up a four-for as SL were handed their first defeat of the tournament
Schutt also picked up a four-for as SL were handed their first defeat of the tournament
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Shashwat Kumar
5:58pm Right. That will be that from us for tonight. Do join us tomorrow as Bangladesh take on New Zealand in another clutch Women's T20 World Cup clash. Until next time, this is me (Shashwat) signing off on behalf of K Vairavan and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo. Goodbye, goodnight and take care!
Meg Lanning, Australia captain: A great game today. The bowlers set the game up. Grace Harris coming in and bowling that way was excellent. (On what makes Australia tick) Just people standing up at different times. Someone like Ash Gardner did not bowl as many overs today but she can perform that role too. I enjoyed the 3pm start today. Looked like the wicket turned a little more in the afternoon and skidded on later. We adapt as we go. Looking forward to it (the game against South Africa). They have some world-class players. We will take a bit of a break tomorrow and come back again after it. The support has been incredible (for us) and please keep it coming.
Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka captain: I think we had to score more than 150 on this wicket. Unfortunately, we did not score that many and that is the reason we lost this game. We tried our best to score more runs in the powerplay. We are not batting well in the middle overs and we did not execute our plans. They batted really well. They executed their plans. We have to bowl in the right areas and take wickets early otherwise we can't restrict such teams. We will try our best to play positive cricket (against New Zealand). We don't have any pressure and we just want to play our natural game.
Alyssa Healy, Player of the Match: Tough going at times but nice to get the points. Nice to play a good game as a group. (On her partnership with Mooney) I just think we complement each other quite nicely. The left-right combination also helps. She hits unique pockets and that is what makes her so good. We trust one another out there. The wicket played pretty well. It stayed a little low and took a bit of turn. It stayed true throughout. We have the likes of Jess Jonassen sitting on the bench and that shows the strength we have.
5:45pm Well, that turned into a very one-sided contest in the end. This was another dominant display by Australia - the sort of performance that reminds people just why they are favourites to retain their title. Mooney looked a little scratchy at the start but she soon found her range, scoring a vital fifty. Healy, meanwhile, looked in good touch throughout her innings and that is an excellent omen for Australia moving forward.
Sri Lanka's bowlers kept things tight in the powerplay but when defending such a low score, wickets were what they needed. They could not quite break through and once Australia's openers established themselves at the crease, the result seemed a foregone conclusion. All is not lost for them, though. They still sit second on the points table and if they can beat New Zealand in their final group game, they will fancy their chances of going through. Australia, meanwhile, have taken another giant stride towards qualification and the way they are playing, would be expecting to finish at the top of the pile in group 1.
Scores level now. Can Healy finish it off in style?
Powerhouse player has had to overcome a lot to get a spot in the team and has started to show just how good she can be