Australia’s preparations for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka hit a snag when they discovered their match venue, Premadasa Stadium, was unavailable for a training session on Sunday.
Australia began their campaign on Saturday with a 56-run win in their warm-up game against New Zealand and have a second warm-up game to follow against England on Monday.
George Bailey’s side intended to train on Sunday at Premadasa, the Colombo ground which hosts their Australia’s Group B games against Ireland on September 19 and against West Indies three days later.
However that was ruled out and, after a scramble to find an alternative training venue, Bailey’s men decided to have the day off from training ahead of their England clash at Nondescripts Cricket Club ground.
Teenager Pat Cummins was branded a superstar of the future by teammate Clint McKay after Australia’s quicks skittled New Zealand for 83 on Saturday.
Australia scored 6-139 before claiming a 56-run win as Cummins (2-13), McKay (2-14) and Shane Watson (2-7) combined with spinner Brad Hogg (3-23) to run through the New Zealand batting lineup in just 17 overs.
The Black Caps were hurt by the absence of the game’s No.1-ranked batsman Brendon McCullum, who was rested because of an arm injury.
Openers Watson (27) and David Warner (24) gave Australia a solid start while allrounder Glenn Maxwell (24) pushed his selection claims for Wednesday’s Ireland game.
Wicketkeeper Matt Wade was unbeaten on 25.
Allrounder Dan Christian, who could be vying for a spot with Maxwell against Ireland, hit 11 not out from three deliveries at Nondescripts where the two-paced nature of the pitch made scoring difficult at times.
Australia rested in-form quick Mitchell Starc to give McKay a crack after the big Victorian missed the T20 series against Pakistan in Dubai with a hamstring injury.
Cummins also claimed 1-1 in an extra over eliminator as both sides trialled the tie-break format.
It was a brilliant comeback from Cummins, who had conceded 12 in his extra-time over against Pakistan.
“He was excellent. He’s going to be a superstar,” McKay said.
“Not only this tournament, but in world cricket.”
