Australia beat Sri Lanka by three ports to get their three-match Twenty20 series with a game in hand.
One day after the 10-port victory, the visitors worked hard for the victory of the series while the Sri Lankan bowling players put on a good show defending a modest goal at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
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Chasing 125 to win, Aaron Finch (24) and David Warner (21) got Australia off to a good start with a 33-run position for the first wicket in 16 balls.
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – JUNE 8: Dushmantha Chameera celebrates with his teammates after taking the port of Australia’s Marcus Stoinis during the second match of the T20 international series between Sri Lanka and Australia at the R. Premadasa Stadium on June 8. June 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty Images) (Getty)
Australia lost a few fast ports, including Steve Smith by just five, and was at 5-80 needing 45 runs to win. But the T20 world champions had a lot of overs and baptism to come.
Although legged Wanindu Hasaranga claimed four goals, goalkeeper Matthew Wade kept his nerve to beat Australia with an unbeaten 26.
When Ashton Agar fell without scoring as Hasaranga caught two carries on two balls, Australia still needed 26 runs to win. Wade and Jhye Richardson finished the chase with 13 leftovers.
“We know that when Sri Lanka climbs up, it’s hard to stop them,” Wade said. “A little pressure towards the end and great to cross the line. He knew his spinners had only four overs left and he wanted that to end. The pace of execution was not a problem and I had to make sure to wait until the end. “
Clinical performance showed why Australia is a strong contender to win the world title at the end of the year again when it hosts the tournament.
He has not fared very well in Sri Lanka in this year’s T20s as he has only won one of his 10 games.
Again, baptism was the problem. The hosts only got 28 runs in the power play and didn’t get a challenging total.
“I think 20 more runs would have done the job for us,” Sri Lankan boss Dasun Shanaka said. “I’m very disappointed because we couldn’t capitalize in the end. Today we lost the top tier ports and playing the conditions was very important and we didn’t do it today. “
The Sri Lankan captain also said that his team made a mistake with the team selection: “We had to choose whether to go with the fast bowler or the spinner. It was a tough call. We have now realized that we have not made the right decision. “
Australian bowlers were too good at death games and at one point picked up four wickets without running with Kane Richardson claiming three of those wickets in the space of four deliveries that had been called up to throw the last game. He finished with four out of 30, his best figures of his career.
Richardson, who replaced the injured Mitchell Starc, was just as good at claiming three for 26, also the best in his short career.
The last game of the series is on Saturday in Kandy.
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