Australia took a 1-0 lead in the T20I series against Sri Lanka after beating the hosts by 85 runs in Pallekele. Australia registered 263/3 thanks to Glenn Maxwell’s maiden T20I century and in response Sri Lanka put a spirited fight but eventually fell apart.
After losing the toss, Australia were put into bat by Sri Lanka but they made sure that the hosts paid for asking them to bat on a good batting wicket. With a new-look opening pair of David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, the visitors began their assault early.
Although Warner perished inside the powerplay, Maxwell made sure Australia broke the world for highest total in T20Is and finished unbeaten on 145 from 65 balls. In reply, Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan early and although Dinesh Chandimal got a fifty, they were never really in the hunt and eventually finished on 178/9.
Here are some interesting numbers from the game:
0 – No team has scored more than Australia’s 263 in a T20I game. Their total of 263/3 equalled the record set by Royal Challengers Bangalore who scored 263/5 against Pune in IPL 2013.
1 – Glenn Maxwell became the first batsman to score a century in his maiden T20I innings as opener. The previous highest was 96 by Damien Martyn.
2 – Maxwell now holds the record for the second-highest score by an Australian batsman in T20s after Aaron Finch, who scored 156 against England.
3 – T20I centuries scored in Pallekele, which is the most in any venue. Two centuries have been scored in Johannesburg, Dharamsala and Lauderhill.
3 – This was only the third time that there have been fifty run parternships for the first three wickets in T20Is. The previous two instances were both by India against Sri Lanka in 2009 and West Indies in 2016.
12 – Sri Lanka have lost 12 T20Is (out of 15) in 2016, which is the joint-most by any team in a calendar year. Pakistan lost 12 T20Is in 2012 and jointly have the record along with Sri Lanka.
18 – Maxwell’s hundred was the 18th century scored by an opener in T20Is. There have only been 23 hundreds scored in T20Is and 18 of them have come from openers, four from No.3 and only one from No.4.
49 – Maxwell’s century came off just 49 balls. Only six batsman have hit a century in fewer balls while the fastest T20I hundred record belongs to Richard Levi off just 45 balls.
85 – Sri Lanka’s loss by 85 runs is their biggest in T20Is. Their previous-worse defeat was also against Australia, by 81 runs in 2010.
145* – Maxwell’s score of 145* is the second-highest T20I score, behind only Aaron Finch’s 156.
153 – Glenn Maxwell took 153 innings to register his maiden T20 century. Only two players, Virat Kohli (181) and Andre Russell (180) took longer to reach their maiden T20 century.
178 – This is the second-highest score by Sri Lanka while chasing in a T20I. Their best (179) was achieved earlier in the year against New Zealand.
263 – Australia’s total is the highest in a T20I beating Sri Lanka’s record of 260/6 against Kenya in 2007. Australia’s previous-highest total was 248/6 against England in 2013.
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