Spinners, Healy, Mooney take Australia closer to semi-final

Australia 113 for 0 (Mooney 56*, Healy 54*) beat Sri Lanka 112 for 8 (Samarawickrama 34, Schutt 4-24, Harris 2-7) by ten wicketsOnly in the very early stages of this match could Sri Lanka have held serious hopes. Once Chamari Athapaththu - the only Sri Lanka batter with a history of scoring heavily against Australia - was dismissed for 16, Sri Lanka's chances nosedived substantially.Their innings never got going. Australia's spinners delivered plenty of dot balls on a slow Gqeberha surface, as Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne struggled to make strong contact. But it was the seam bowling of Megan Schutt that was most successful. She took 4 for 24 from her four overs, getting three of those dismissals in the final over of the innings.Sri Lanka floundered to 112 for 8, and Australia's outstanding openers made short work of the small target. Alyssa Healy continued her excellent form, hitting 54 not out off 43 balls. And Beth Mooney, who had had a quiet start to the World Cup, made 56 not out off 53. They sauntered to the target with 25 balls to spare.Australia strike a definitive first blowA big Athapaththu innings was always going to be Sri Lanka's best chance of sneaking a win against the defending champions, and very briefly, it seemed as if Athapaththu was warming to her work. In Darcie Brown's first over, Athapaththu smoked her through the covers, then slashed her in front of point two balls later. Later, she got on one knee to launch Ashleigh Gardner over cow corner for six.But then in the fifth over, Ellyse Perry had a fullish delivery stick in the pitch for a moment, and Athapaththu's attempted lofted shot down the ground went high in the air behind the bowler. It would have landed safely in most instances, but Grace Harris tore after the ball from mid-on, and went airborne to close her fingers around the catch while still mid-air.Spinners tie up Sri Lanka's top orderSri Lanka's second-wicket partnership - between Samarawickrama and Gunaratne - was their biggest, bringing 39 runs. But it also sap