Rain brought play to a halt in the World Cup clash between Sri Lanka and five-time champions Australia on Monday.

Sri Lanka reached 178-4 in 32.1 overs after electing to bat first when showers forced the players off the field at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Openers Pathum Nissanka (61) and Kusal Perera (78) put on 125 before Australia hit back with wickets from skipper Pat Cummins and spinner Adam Zampa.

The right-left batting pair of Nissanka and Perera took on the opposition bowlers with regular boundaries – 20 between them.

Perera reached his fifty with a boundary off Marcus Stoinis amid applause from the dressing room and a few Sri Lankan fans at a largely empty 50 000-seater stadium.

Nissanka soon got his second successive half-century as Sri Lanka charged ahead.

Cummins got Nissanka through a good outfield catch by David Warner and then bowled Perera.

Zampa, a legspinner, took down skipper Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama on consecutive balls between overs to be on hat-trick avoided by Dhananjaya de Silva.

AUSTRALIA: Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

SRI LANKA: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk, capt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka