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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Clear as mud
Guest
whichever World Cup game it was where he pulled his first ball for 6... we were never going to lose after that
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Certainly Mitch would have loved the short quick stuff. Great pull and hook shot.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Not sure why you might feel the need to add never to picked again. Dropped is fine. And Stoinis and Wade are in form so leave them alone
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I would agree their bowling was good in patches. I suspect if we had Marsh at 3 and an in form opening pair, they might have been under pressure and we’d know more
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Too early here apparently
Clear as mud
Guest
I don’t remember writing that! It could be spam. Or half baked irony.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Not sure what you base that on. He hasn’t made runs at home against a weak attack. Why would you expect him to be great in a WC?
clear as mud
Guest
Why on earth would Finch retire? He will be great in the World Cup.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
A glass of milk or Mylanta? Oh heartburn :laughing:
Paul
Roar Guru
he may well do, but like indigestion, Finch has little control over when his form is going to fix itself.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Form is like indigestion it comes & goes, he’ll come good. :thumbup:
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Jeff we are mates it’s just he has a soft underbelly not suggesting he’s not a talented cricketer hope you forgive :stoked:
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Well Vlad Putin is the gift that keeps on giving for fans of big events!
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Senility taking over Jeff. First getting McCabe’s strike rate wrong, now this. Oh wait…
Paul
Roar Guru
I think people get overly excited about one good/bad innings or one good/bad bowling spell these days Matt. In this format especially, it doesn't take much for guys to have a shocker with the ball, even though they're actually bowling well.
Jero
Roar Rookie
He's exactly the guy, I'd say. He's been doing it long enough with the Stars.
Paul
Roar Guru
a really good comparison. I'm keen to see Maxwell have a go at the captaincy. With his experience I'd have thought he'd be a pretty fair captain, at least in T20's.
Jero
Roar Rookie
I guess the question would be how much “Mike Brearley” Finch brings to the role, and whether or not someone else in the side couldn’t provide his captaincy skills.
Paul
Roar Guru
Why not. George Bailey is a great example of playing in a winning team even though you're actual contributions with the bat are negligible. If it's good enough for the Chairman of Selectors, it's good enough for Finch.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
He was a bit of a ROD