AUS-W vs SL-W

That's it then from this match, folks! Australia did an Australia and Sri Lanka, who are perhaps still learning how to best utilize their squad and deal with pressure, just became another victim. It was difficult to see Athapaththu talk about positive cricket at the toss and them starting with almost two maidens upfront. But that's a starting point to work from. For now, it's the pair of Rudransh and Bidipto signing off for Sportskeeda. See-ya!

Alyssa Healy (Australia captain): One off our back, so that's good. Good result. We'll take some confidence. We were decent without being perfect. We adapted to the conditions quickly with the ball. They threw some heat at us early on but we steadied things up. It was hard sitting and waiting for the tournament to start. But it was nice to watch and learn from the outside because we haven't played here before and now nice to get things going in the middle. (One Wareham at three) We might throw in a few more things like that. We are blessed with batting depth and we are happy to switch batting positions.

Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka captain): We were playing really good cricket in the last two months, even in the warmups. We have lost two, unfortunately. I think the girls are struggling on these tracks with low bounce and turn. They are much better on flatter tracks. Our batting depends on our top-four and we have struggled. Hopefully, we'll bounce back in the next one. We need to improve our batting and play positive cricket. Dubai is better for batting so I hope they'll perform better.

Megan Schutt (Player of the Match, 3/12 in 4 overs): There was a bit more bounce off the surface early on than I thought, but it helped me that I got three overs up front. The pitch was okay to be honest, the heat was the issue, but I think overall, we could have been a bit more clinical. It was nice to take some poles out there today from a personal perspective! 

That's it! Australia win by six wickets (34 balls remaining)

Beth Mooney 43* (38) | Megan Schutt (3/12)
Nilakshika Silva 29 (40) | Sugandika Kumari (1/16)

We all saw this coming, didn't we? Sri Lanka were good in parts but the gulf in batting quality was too huge for them to overcome. The defending champions have fought the heat by the skin of their teeth and have come through with flying colors against the Asian champions, who'd know they are all but out of the race.

The 94-target gave Australia a slight scare early on when Prabodani cleaned up Healy with a peach in the first over and then Wareham was run out in her second. Perry, the number four, set the tone of the shift in momentum with a couple of boundaries early on and the target was so small, it immediately put Australia ahead.

Kumari bowled the second best ball of the day to get Perry out, offering a last ray of hope. But Mooney was simply unaffected with what was happening at the other end and found support of Gardner, who rotated the strike expertly to keep the lid off her team. Their partnership sucked the life out of the Lankans before Litchfield helped Mooney finish things off. 

Sri Lanka would regret the inefficiency of their spinners, especially because the pitch was quite conducive to their style. Chamari looked out of options despite having so many of them. Australia targeted specific bowlers and regions and phases, like they do, and were clinical as ever.

14.2 Sugandika Kumari to Beth Mooney, AUSTRALIA WOMEN WIN AT A CANTER! Good length ball on the legs. Worked away to the square-leg area off the hip for a single. And that is victory for the defending champions with more than 5 overs left! 

14.1 Sugandika Kumari to Beth Mooney, round the wicket, FOUR! Good length ball on middle-stump. Mooney advances and just whacks it over the right of the mid-on fielder for a boundary! Scores are level. 

13.6 Kavisha Dilhari to Phoebe Litchfield, AH HA! Full and flat on off-stump.l Litchfield went for the reverse sweep first but had to check it and play a right-hander's tap to mid-wicket in the end! No run. 

13.4 Kavisha Dilhari to Phoebe Litchfield, short and slow on the pads. Worked off the back foot to the short square-leg region for a single. 

13.3 Kavisha Dilhari to Phoebe Litchfield, good length ball on middle-stump. Reverse-swept to the left of backward point here for a brace now. 

13.2 Kavisha Dilhari to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! Length ball on middle-stump. Litchfield steps out, opens her shoulders and drives it from the pitch of the ball through cover for a boundary! 

13.1 Kavisha Dilhari to Phoebe Litchfield, round the wicket, short around off-stump. Punched to the cover area off the back foot now, no run. 

13 runs needed to win. Expect Mooney to go for a calculated six here anytime in the coming overs. Australia won't be silly enough to concede too many dots.

12.5 Inoka Ranaweera to Phoebe Litchfield, good length ball with pace taken off again, around off-stump. Defended to short-leg from the front foot, no run.