(Cricket news) Australia made it two wins out of two at the T20 World Cup Super 12s with a magnificent performance by David Warner who scored 65 runs off 42 balls. With this result, Australia are now level on points with England (4 points) in Group 1 before the two teams clash against each other on Saturday.

Sri Lanka started their innings strongly with Charith Asalanka (35 off 27) and Kusal Perera (35 off 25) helping The Lions start on the front foot after Pathum Nissanka was dismissed for seven runs. Asalanka seemed in red hot form, getting nine runs off the first four balls and then scoring a six from Glenn Maxwell’s delivery. The Aussies were under pressure by the time Sri Lanka posted 50 runs on the board off 36 deliveries but the tide turned when Asalanka was dismissed by an Adam Zampa delivery that was caught by Steve Smith, resulting in Sri Lanka being reduced to 78-2.

Kusal Perera hit a six off Mitchel Starc’s delivery to match Asalanka’s score of 35 but it was the 31 year old Australian who had the last laugh as Perera was dismissed in the very next ball by a yorker that took out the middle stump. Sri Lanka then saw both Avishka Fernando and Wanindu Hasaranga get dismissed for four runs as The Lions entered into a panic mode. However, Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 33 runs* off 26 balls guided his team to a respectable total of 154 runs.

Aaron Finch hit two fours off Chamika Karunaratne's opening over while Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara were also subjected to similar treatments. The partnership between Finch and Warner gave Australia the perfect start as they were 43-0 after four overs. Warner at 18 was given a second lifeline when wicketkeeper Perera dropped a simple chance which Sri Lanka paid a very heavy price for as Warner went on to score 65 runs off 42 balls. After the first six overs, Australia had scored 63 runs, the highest powerplay score of the tournament so far in what seemed like smooth sailing.

However, Aaron Finch was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga while Glenn Maxwell (5) was caught by Avishka Fernando. David Warner was eventually dismissed while looking to wrap up the match off Shanaka’s delivery which was caught by Bhanuka Rajapaksa. All was not lost as Steve Smith (28* off 26 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (16* off 7 balls) ensured Australia scored 155 runs in 17 overs to conclude a dominant innings.

Also read: T20 World Cup: West Indies and Bangladesh play for survival in search of 1st super 12 win