Women's T20 WC: Haynes, Lanning star as Australia defeat Sri Lanka

Perth [Australia], Feb 24 (ANI): Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning played knocks of 60 and 41, respectively, as Australia defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup on Monday here at the WACA.
Chasing 123, Australia got off to the worst start possible as the side lost its first three wickets with just ten runs on the board. Alyssa Healy (0), Beth Mooney (6) and Ashleigh Gardner (2) all failed to leave a mark.
Meg Lanning and Rachel Haynes then retrieved the innings for the hosts as the duo put on a stand of 95 runs. But with just 18 runs away from the target, Haynes (60) was sent back to the pavilion by Shashikala Siriwardene in the 18th over.
In the end, Lanning and Ellyse Perry took Australia over the line by five wickets and with three balls to spare.
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped Australia restrict Sri Lanka to 122/6 in the allotted twenty overs.
Sri Lanka lost its opening wicket of Hasini Perera (0) in the first over of the innings. Umesha Thimashini (20) and Chamari Atapattu (50) then retrieved the innings for Sri Lanka as the duo put on 38 runs for the second wicket.
However, Australia came back strongly in the middle as they kept chipping away at the wickets. Atapattu went on to score a half-century, but her dismissal proved a major setback for the side and Sri Lanka was restricted to under 130 runs.
For Australia, Nicola Carey and Molly Strano scalped two wickets each.
Brief Scores: Australia 123/5 (Rachael Haynes 60, Meg Lanning 41*, Udeshika Prabodhani 2-17) defeat Sri Lanka 122/6 (Chamari Atapattu 50, Anushka Sanjeewani 25, Nicola Carey 2-18) by five wickets. (ANI)