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Australian fan chants 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' during match against Sri Lanka. (Source: Twitter)
Australia won the first match of their ODI World Cup 2023 campaign against Sri Lanka. After suffering two losses in the tournament against two of the big teams like India and South Africa, Australia finally got a win undet their belt. At one stage in the match, even that seemed to be difficult, as Sri Lanka looked to take the game away from Australia. The Sri Lankan opening duo framed a good partnership.
That was when a bit of support from the crowd helped Australia to get back in the game. The fans in Ekana stadium in Lucknow cheered the Australian team to perform well. The shoulders which were down suddenly turned more intensive. Following it, wickets came in succession for Australia, thanks to a good bowling effort from the entire unit.
The Indian crowd was seen chanting 'Ganapati Bappa Morya' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' during the match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Lucknow. Interestingly, the Australian fans who were in the stadium, also joined the Indian fans and started to chant the slogans. It was beautiful to see the fans of Australia joining with the Indian fans to support the team.
Watch the video below:
Australian fan chanting 'Ganpati Bappa, Moriya' at the Ekana Stadium.pic.twitter.com/vsRrfT92FF
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2023
Australia turn things around to clinch the match
Australia though, made a terrific comeback in the match. From 125/0 at one stage, Australia went on to dismiss Sri Lanka for a total of just 209 runs. It was a below par total. Adam Zampa shined with the ball for Australia by picking 4 wickets. The pace duo of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins also claimed a couple of wickets each. Only Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera fired with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Chasing 210, Australia was reduced to 24/2 by Dilshan Madushanka. The left-arm pacer claimed the wickets of two dangerous batters, David Warner and Steve Smith. But Australia recovered from there to win the match comfortably in the end. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis scored fifty. Marnus Labuschagne scored an anchoring 40. Australia won the match by 5 wickets to stay alive in the tournament.