Cricket fans in uproar over 'ridiculous' Aussie farce at T20 World Cup

Cricket fans have blasted the 'ridiculous' scheduling of Australia's clash with Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup, which saw the match commence at 10pm for fans in NSW and Victoria.

Perth hosted its first international cricket match in nearly three years on Tuesday night as Australia beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

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Unfortunately the majority of the country didn't stay up late enough to see it live.

Organisers scheduled the match for 7pm Perth time, meaning it didn't commence until 10pm for fans in NSW and Victoria.

Fans on the east coast of Australia needed to stay up until about 1.30am if they wanted to watch Australia clinch victory.

Some commentators pointed out that organisers wanted to prioritise fans in Western Australia due to the fact they've missed out on international cricket for the last three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However the 7pm start time in Perth meant families wouldn't have attended anyway due to the match finishing about 10.30pm on a school night.

The official crowd figure of 25,061 wasn't even half of the capacity at Optus Stadium, and paled in comparison to the 90,000 who turned out at the MCG to watch India and Pakistan on Sunday night.

"We have a home World Cup and the national team is slated to play at 10pm AEDT… which is more than just a little bit ridiculous," tweeted Corbin Middlemas of the ABC.

Others described it as a 'joke' and a 'farce'.

Marcus Stoinis makes history as Aussies beat Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, Marcus Stoinis battered the fastest half century in Australian T20 history to take his side to a much-needed win.

In reply to Sri Lanka's 6-157, Stoinis struck an unbeaten 59 off 18 balls to get Australia over the line with 21 balls to spare.

Stoinis pummelled four fours and six sixes to reach his half-century in just 17 balls, bettering the previous Australian record of 18 balls set by David Warner.

But as grand as the knock from Stoinis was, the match increased concerns about the form of skipper Aaron Finch, who scored an unbeaten 31 off 42 balls in one of the scratchiest displays of his decorated career.

Finch was in struggle town early as he inched his way to four runs off his first 15 balls.

The 35-year-old was so bemused by one Lahiru Kumara delivery that he quipped to the umpire: "Happy to take any ideas if you know how to hit that".

There were 21 dot balls and no boundaries off the bat during the six-over power play as Australia crawled to 1-33.

Sri Lanka's early efforts were all the more meritorious given that pace star Binura Fernando limped off after just five balls with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

But the arrival of Glenn Maxwell changed the contest.

Maxwell cracked 22 runs off his first six deliveries as Australia plundered 47 off three overs to move to 2-85 after 10.

His dismissal brought Stoinis to the crease, and the West Australian smashed Australia over the finish line in the most brutal knock of his career.

"Once I got in, the plan was to just keep going." Stoinis said.

"To be honest I was really nervous today, being at home in front of lots of family and friends here.

"But I'm really happy that we ended up putting on a bit of a clinic there."

Australia's preparations for the must-win match hit a hurdle when spinner Adam Zampa was struck down by Covid-19.

Under new rules Zampa could have still played, but Australia decided to err on the side of caution by playing Ashton Agar instead.

with AAP

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