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Sri Lanka have finished their T20I tour of Australia with heads held high, claiming a rollicking encounter at the MCG by five wickets for their first victory of the series.
Set a target of 155 after a patchy batting performance from the home side, the tourists gave their legion of fans in Melbourne plenty to cheer with a calm chase, completed with one ball to spare.
Star of the show was opener Kusal Mendis, who recovered from some hair-raising running between the wickets that saw two teammates run out with a 58-ball 69, before a monstrous six from captain Dasun Shanaka in the final over enabled the visitors to creep over the line.
What a sound off Shanaka's bat! ????#AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/whyZ2hxHeW
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 20, 2022
Shanaka would be bowled attempting to hit the winning runs one ball after his colossal six; however, with bowler Kane Richardson limping from the field with an apparent hamstring injury, new man in Chamika Karunaratne successfully cleared the infield for the winning runs off replacement Daniel Sams.
For Australia, defeat was further soured by the injury to Richardson, as well as another poor score from out-of-form captain Aaron Finch.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Finch’s decision to return himself to the top of the order failed, neither he nor partner Ben McDermott able to clear the infield as Sri Lanka’s quicks tightened the screws.
The Aussies only brought up double figures midway through the fourth over; one ball later, the captain would fall after completely mistiming a lofted drive to sum up a wretched series and summer.
The Aussie skipper is GONE for just two runs ????
???? Tune in to #AUSvSL LIVE on @Foxtel Ch. 501 or stream on @kayosports: https://t.co/JTujCtPS40
✍️ Blog: https://t.co/vfsHzElwdf
???? Match Centre: https://t.co/oImKGF0vvS pic.twitter.com/VkmZdv0p75— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) February 18, 2022
Yet another low score from Finch will again prompt questions over his place in the XI, and with Ben McDermott departing in the next over for an even more sluggish 3 off 13 balls, Australia were 2-13 after five overs and severely under the pump.
As it did in the fourth T20I of the series on Friday night, it fell to Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell to steady the ship, the pair’s crisp strokeplay immediately bringing up the first boundaries of the innings.
Inglis hits it for six ????
???? Tune in to #AUSvSL LIVE on @Foxtel Ch. 501 or stream on @kayosports: https://t.co/JTujCtPS40
✍️ Blog: https://t.co/vfsHzElwdf
???? Match Centre: https://t.co/oImKGF0vvS pic.twitter.com/nd3bOLBz1z— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) February 18, 2022
A series of crisp drives from Inglis showed exactly why those in the know are predicting a bright future at international level, but the Western Australian could only reach 23 before departing in acrimonious circumstances.
Hit on the helmet by Sri Lankan quick Dushmantha Chameera, the visitors were quick to claim Inglis had gloved the ball first; when the third umpire found a faint murmur on Snicko, a furious Inglis had to go.
Melbourne Stars teammates Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell continued Australia’s surge, though; Stoinis’ powerful start again prompting calls, mostly from Shane Warne, for him to bat higher up in the order.
However, his innings would only reach cameo status, finding mid-off for 17 off Sri Lankan inclusion Lahiru Kumara. When Maxwell too fell three balls later as Kumara enjoyed a dream over at one of cricket’s most iconic venues, the home side were again in trouble.
Enter Matthew Wade. Famously the hero with the bat in Australia’s thrilling T20 World Cup semi-final win over Pakistan, the veteran showed he remains one of the cleanest strikers in the country.
Kusal Mendis bats during game five of the T20I series between Australia and Sri Lanka. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Together with Daniel Sams, the pair would add 52 for the sixth wicket to ensure Australia would set a competitive total, Wade’s craftiness summed up by consecutive reverse-sweeps for four off spinner Maheesh Theekshana, then demonstrating his power with a pair of crunching sixes.
Sri Lanka’s weakness throughout this series has been their batting, and when the tourists lost two wickets in a disastrous fourth over – opener Pathum Nissanka finding mid-on before debutant Kamil Mishara was unluckily run out with his bat bouncing millimetres from safety – the chase looked insurmountable.
Mendis, however, is a known Australian tormentor, having starred with the bat in a 3-0 series whitewash in Sri Lanka back in 2016; and the Aussie attack, minus front-liners Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, held no concerns for the talented right-hander.
Together with first Charith Asalanka, whose nine-ball 20 featured a gargantuan six off Sams, and then captain Shanaka in between a disastrous mix-up that saw Janith Liyanage become the second Sri Lankan to be run out, Mendis and the skipper would patiently wait out another miserly spell from Ashton Agar, while taking the fight to the rest.
BIG! That's a 94m six from Dasun Shanaka #AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/YSM1tWAQCf
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 20, 2022
Content to calmly whittle down the runs until the final overs, a visibly fatigued Mendis had little in the tank for the sprint to the finish, save a clever ramp shot off Jhye Richardson to leave nine for Shanaka to chase in the final over.
Despite a nervous start as Kane Richardson proved difficult to get away, the target was small enough that one six was enough to all but ice the match; Shanaka’s colossal strike, plus Richardson’s hamstring giving way, was enough to ensure Sri Lanka inflict Australia’s first defeat of the summer.
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