Kusal Mendis, opening the batting for the first time this series, made a well-paced half century to guide Sri Lanka to their 1st win of the 5-match series against Australia.
The right-hander was involved in two run-outs during Sri Lanka’s chase, which saw both debutants, Janith Liayanage and Kamil Mishara back in the hut, but kept his cool to guide Sri Lanka home in what turned out to be a nervy chase.
Sri Lanka started their chase of 155 in more aggressive fashion in this game, with both Mendis and his partner Pathum Nissanka going for their shots. Nissanka was dismissed early and Mishara run-out soon after, but we caught a glimpse of the Charith Asalanka who had caught the eye during the World Cup last year, as the left hander raced to 20 off deliveries before being dismissed thanks to a loose shot. Sri Lanka managed 54 off the powerplay, their best performance this series.
The chase looked on the fence when Sri Lanka slumped to 4/71 at the end of the 9th over, but a well-paced 83-run partnership between the skipper and Mendis saw them through.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka got off to a brilliant start with the ball, restricting the hosts to just 22/2 in their powerplay, thanks to some tight bowling by Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana and Praveen Jayawickrama.
Asutralia looked like they would settle for 130-140 before a blistering partnership between Mathew Wade and Daniel Sams pulled them up to 154.
Kumara and Chameera had a good day with the ball, the speedsters coming together to claim 4 wickets between them.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Finch | c & b | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Ben McDermott | c & b | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 23.08 |
| Josh Inglis | c & b | 23 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 115.00 |
| Glenn Maxwell | c & b | 29 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 138.10 |
| Marcus Stoinis | c & b | 17 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 170.00 |
| Matthew Wade | not out | 43 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 159.26 |
| Daniel Sams | c & b | 18 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Ashton Agar | not out | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 154/6 (20 Overs, RR: 7.7) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 6.75 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 0 | 34 | 2 | 8.50 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c & b | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 162.50 |
| Kusal Mendis | not out | 69 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 118.97 |
| Kamil Mishara | run out () | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Charith Asalanka | b | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 222.22 |
| Janith Liyanage | run out () | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 88.89 |
| Dasun Shanaka | b | 35 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 112.90 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 155/5 (19.4 Overs, RR: 7.88) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Stoinis | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Daniel Sams | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 10.50 | |
| Jhye Richardson | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 | |
| Kane Richardson | 3.4 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 8.24 | |
| Ashton Agar | 4 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 4.75 | |
| Adam Zampa | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
