Coming back into the playing XI after missing the team's first two matches of the tournament due to an injury, Marsh got into the act straightaway, clobbering 54 in 27 balls.

Head was equally brutal during his 29-ball 56, as the opening duo added 104 runs in less than nine overs to set Australia up for a 200-plus total.

But the Sri Lankans did much better in the back 10, with leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha (3/37 in 4 overs) emerging as the most successful bowler for the home team. The last four wickets fell for only six runs.

The move to field first backfired on the Sri Lankans as Australia got off to a rollicking start with Marsh and Head marking their reunion with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Following their 23-run defeat to Zimbabwe, Australia began the game in earnest, collecting as many as 16 runs in the very first over by Dushmantha Chameera.

Marsh started his innings in great style as he punched one beautifully off the back foot through the off-side.

Head clipped a Chameera half-volley off his pads to get off the mark with a four before Marsh pulled the pacer for a six over midwicket.

Head got two fours against Maheesh Theekshana to maintain the momentum..

If the early onslaught by Head and Marsh was not enough, Sri Lanka suffered a massive blow in the third over when Matheesha Pathirana, the 23-year-old slinger, hobbled off the field after suffering a hamstring injury, leaving Dasun Shanaka to complete the over.

Shanaka was whacked through point for a boundary by Head in his first ball, and then the left-handed power-hitter clobbered the bowler over deep square leg and into the stands for a big maximum.

Marsh smashed Maheesh Theekshana for five successive boundaries as Australia raced to 70 for no loss in the power play.

Hoping to arrest the free flow of runs, skipper Shanaka introduced leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha into the attack, and Head welcomed him with a six and a four, and in the next over, Marsh plonked left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage for a four and a maximum.

Marsh brought Australia's hundred with a six off Hemantha.

However, Australia lost a cluster of wickets thereafter and from 104 for no loss, they slipped to 130 for four and never recovered from that.

Glenn Maxwell made 22 of 15 balls before a leaping Pathum Nissanka made amends for an earlier drop catch by pulling off a diving stunner at point. Inglis, who got a life even before he opened his account, contributed a 22-ball 27 but Australians ended well short of what was an expected total at the halfway stage.