Pat Cummins dismissed Pathum Nissanka for 7 in just the third over of the match after Aaron Finch opted to bowl. Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka guided Sri Lanka to 78/1 in the 10th over. It was at this point Adam Zampa struck first, sending Asalanka back for a 27-ball 35. Mitchell Starc then produced a stunning yorker to dismiss Kusal Perera, and Sri Lanka soon slumped to 94/5. Some late fireworks from Bhanuka Rajapaksha (33* off 26), guided them to 154/6.

“As a batter, I love batters getting [Player of the Match] but I think when you're looking at the impact on a game, Zamps was terrific tonight,” said Finch. “On the back of a really good Powerplay from Sri Lanka, the way that he controlled the game, especially from that bottom end where the right-handers had a short boundary to hit to, he was fantastic. He got big wickets. That was a world-class performance from him.”

"That was a really good performance,” Finch reflected further on the win. “Sri Lanka got away to a flyer with the bat and the way that Adam Zampa in particular was able to drag that back through the middle, and then Mitchell Starc to have a real impact and bowl them two overs back-to-back through the middle phase where generally we would go with two at the death, he was fantastic. 

“I felt like they were going at 15 an over through the Powerplay. I still felt it was a really good wicket so to chase that down was really nice. We knew we had to be a little bit calmer because when the ball was flying around it felt like they were going at 15 an over but when you looked up it was only 8 an over. So it's just a bit of a reminder to stick to our plans and don't start playing on emotion because that's not when Australia plays our best cricket. 

“It's always a great battle [against England]. We're looking forward to it. They've probably been the form side in white-ball cricket for a long time. We love playing them and it'll be an entertaining game."

Zampa, who returned 2/12 in a highly impressive four-over spell, was pleased to have delivered the goods against a team known to play spin well.

“I find [Sri Lanka] really challenging, very good players of spin so I'm glad to have the night I did. I've tended to try a little bit of Powerplay and a bit of death but with the team that we have and the big 3 quicks, they'll bowl in the Powerplay and Glenn Maxwell bowls a bit in the Powerplay too and has a really good record. So my job is to take wickets in the middle and make it easier for guys on the back end. 

“David played really well. It's really nice for those guys to get time in the middle. They've had a bit of pressure from the media but Finchy played really well, Steve played really well and so did Davey."