Australia defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets to register their first win in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Lucknow on Monday.
Australia had suffered losses in their first two games of the mega event.
However, Sri Lanka suffered their third straight defeat in the tournament with their semi-final qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
Five-time champions Australia injected some life into their moribund World Cup campaign with the victory.
Beaten by India and South Africa in the first two matches, Australia showed some urgency with the ball and bundled out Sri Lanka for 209 inside 44 overs with Adam Zampa leading the rout on figures of 4-47.
At 157-1 near the halfway stage, Sri Lanka looked poised to reach the 300-mark before the wheels came off their innings and they had to settle for a below-par total.
After strong winds delayed the start of their chase, Australia made heavy weather of a small target before Josh Inglis made 58 and Glenn Maxwell (31) stayed put to see them home with nearly 15 overs to spare.
The Cricket World Cup will be played in the round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
The winners of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will earn US$4 million. The runners-up will receive US$2 million, while the losing semi-finalists will earn $800,000 each from the total prize pot of US$10 million.
The winners of each match in the group stage will receive US$40,000 and the six teams that do not qualify for the semi-finals will receive a payment of US$100,000.