Australia slide to 12-year low after being skittled for 107 against Sri Lanka

Recently, Australia had to make five changes to their Champions Trophy squad after Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc were ruled out of the tournament due to various reasons.

With three fast bowlers and two fast-bowling all-rounders replaced in the side, the pace battery should have taken the biggest hit but it’s Australia’s batting that is causing them concerns ahead of a major ICC tournament.

Australian collapse from 79-3 to 107 all out

After losing the first ODI by 49 runs, Australia made five changes to their playing XI; Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshius, and Tanveer Sangha replaced Marnus Labuschagne, Cooper Connolly, Alex Carey, Spencer Jonhson, and Nathan Ellis.

The changes proved to be unfruitful as the absence of Carey and Labuschagne meant that they had no one to call upon when their middle order began to fall apart. Batting first, Sri Lanka set a target of 282 runs courtesy of Kusal Mendis' fifth ODI ton, and an unbeaten knock of 78 runs from skipper Charith Asalanka.

Also read: Highest percentage of runs in completed men’s ODI innings, full list: Sri Lanka No.5 enters all-time top 20

Asitha Fernando bowled a hostile opening spell, removing the top order of Matt Short, Head, and Jake Fraser-McGurk within the Powerplay overs. After a brief partnership of 46 runs between skipper Steve Smith and Inglis, the innings crumbled as Wanindu Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage took two wickets each to reduce the Kangaroos from 79/3 to 83/7 within a space of 15 balls.

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"="" data-media-max-width="560">Seed alert!

And it's triggered a massive collapse for Australia #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/96vgyshEiS

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 14, 2025 " target="_blank" rel="noopener">

The tail wagged for a few more runs but Wellalage and Hasaranga proved too strong for the Australian tail-enders. The visitors ended up defeated by 174 runs, the biggest margin of defeat for the Australians against Sri Lanka. The Australian innings ended at 107, their lowest total in an ODI since 2013 when they were bowled out for 74, also by Sri Lanka, in Brisbane.

Full list of Australia’s lowest scores in ODIs