World Cup 2019: Khawaja stars as Australia beat Sri Lanka in warm-up match

LONDON: Australia emerged stronger in their World Cup preparations as they overpowered Sri Lanka by five wickets in a warm-up match at Southampton on Monday.

The world champions rested opener David Warner (leg soreness), in his absence Khawaja open against Sri Lanka. The left-arm batsman smashed 89 to steer team  to 241.

Former Australia skipper Steve Smith and Warner also returning to the international scene following a year-long ban for his part in a ball-tampering scandal, batted in the nets.

“Behind the scenes we´ve put in a lot of hard work, you need that to be able to compete at this level,” said Khawaja.

He added, “everyone has put in a lot of effort. We had India over in our place for a series and while we lost, that was a big turning point for us.”

Australia, who begin the defence of their title against outsiders Afghanistan in Bristol on Saturday, saw fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins get in the groove as they restricted Sri Lanka to a meagre 239 for eight.

For Sri Lanka, only Lahiru Thirimanne went past fifty