Ben McDermott pummels maiden half-century as Australia secures comfortable victory

One of Australia’s heaviest BBL hitters has finally lived up to his promise, smashing Sri Lanka to all parts to set up a victory.

Top innings from McDermott. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Ben McDermott has brought up a long-awaited maiden T20I half-century at the SCG, 17 matches after making his international debut for Australia in 2018.

The 27-year-old struck 53 off 41 balls against Sri Lanka at the SCG on Friday evening, topscoring for the Australians to help the hosts register 9/149 in the first innings.

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McDermott was recalled to the Australian T20 squad last week following a superb Big Bash League campaign, where he hammered 577 runs at an average of 48.08 with a strike rate of 153.86, making history by scoring back-to-back centuries for the Hobart Hurricanes in December.

He was named Player of the Tournament and rushed back into the national outfit, replacing the resting David Warner at the top of the order.

McDermott initially struggled on the slow SCG duck on Friday, but started to find the middle of his bat after skipper Aaron Finch returned to the sheds for 8.

Following a brief rain delay, the right-hander slapped Dushmantha Chameera over the square leg boundary in the 10th over, with the white Kookaburra almost landing on the roof of the Bill O‘Reilly Stand.

“That’s unbelievable,” former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne cried on Fox Cricket.

“That’s a big hit out there.”

Australia ultimately secured a comfortable 20-run victory in the rain-affected contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Great innings from Ben McDermott. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

McDermott was not a member of Australia’s squad for this summer’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and understandably so.

When a handful of Australia’s high-profile players withdrew from winter tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh last year, McDermott was gifted an opportunity to push his case for the T20 World Cup selection.

But the undermanned Australian batting attack flopped in the white-ball tours, as Mitchell Marsh the only player to impress national selectors.

McDermott averaged 13.42 over the winter, registering scores of 2, 7, 28, 0, 35, 5 and 17. He was axed ahead of the T20 World Cup, along with teammates Moises Henriques, Josh Philippe, Alex Carey and Ashton Turner.

“Every chance I get to play for my country is so special to me, but it hasn’t gone my way so far,” he told reporters last month. “I’ve had 17 opportunities and haven’t made the most of it.

“These couple of tours just gone were a bit of a struggle for me – missing the birth of my daughter and getting injured a couple of times.

“You saw what the conditions in Bangladesh were like with 120 a par (team score). It wasn’t conducive to big scores.”

But since returning from Bangladesh in August, McDermott has enjoyed a purple patch some batters only dream of.

In November, he struck 133 off 140 balls in a five-wicket victory over Western Australia in the Marsh Cup, an innings that went largely unnoticed because Tasmanian teammate Tim Paine was dominating headlines.

A few weeks later, McDermott became the first cricketer to score three centuries in the Big Bash League, two of which came within 48 hours of each other earlier this summer.

And upon returning to the national side, he immediately broke the dreaded 1208-day drought and passed fifty in Australian colours.

Don’t be surprised if he gets picked up for a hefty sum in this weekend’s IPL mega-auction.

So bloody good to see Ben McDermott doing this in Australian colours. #AUSvSL

— Alex Fair (@AJFair85) February 11, 2022

First six of the night! #BBL11 Player of the Tournament Ben McDermott clears the rope #AUSvSLpic.twitter.com/DqRflBAxQr

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 11, 2022

Next summer’s T20 World Cup on home soil isn’t out of the question for McDermott, but he’s realistic about his chances of breaking into the starting XI.

“It‘s definitely the goal, but there’s a lot of talent throughout that whole line-up,” he told reporters in December.

“They just won a World Cup, so I don‘t think that the squad’s doing anything wrong.

“You never know, it‘d be great to be there and amongst another World Cup win, it’s looked pretty fun.

“If I can keep scoring runs, then I suppose when they want to retire, then maybe I just slip in there.”

McDermott was on song. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Australia’s T20 championship side was not packed with spring chickens – Pat Cummins was the youngest player in the team at 28. It’s fair to say that within four years, most of the side would have retired from international cricket.

But McDermott’s resurgence would be comforting for national selectors, who are keeping one eye on the future.

Speaking to Fox Cricket last month, former Australian batter Michael Hussey suggested McDermott was keeping the heat on incumbent openers David Warner and Finch and was a must for this year’s T20 World Cup squad.

Australian great Mark Waugh agreed: ”Certainly, in my book he‘s got to be there.

“There‘s going to be a lot of good top-order players in that squad but he’s got to be one of them.”

Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers for Australia on Friday evening, finishing his four-over spell with figures of 4/12. Earlier, debutant Josh Inglis scored an entertaining 23 off 18 balls before Chamika Karunaratne rattled his stumps.

The second T20 international between Australia and Sri Lanka gets underway at the SCG on Sunday evening, with the first ball scheduled for 7.10pm AEDT.

Best bowling figures for an Australian pace bowler in T20 internationals

5/27 – James Faulkner vs PAK, Mar 2016

4/8 – Billy Stanlake vs PAK, Jul 2018

4/12 – Josh Hazlewood vs SL, Feb 2022