126/7 (17.5)
CR : 7.07
124/9 (20.0)
CR : 6.20
Australia won by 3 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Matthew Wade
26(26)
17.2
1
D Gunathilaka to M Wade
Off break this time a tad outside the off. Wade hangs back and pushes it towards the sweeper cover for a single.
17.3
0
D Gunathilaka to J Richardson
Quicker on the off. Jhye hangs back and defends it down the ground.
17.4
1
D Gunathilaka to J Richardson
A single this time. Fuller outside the off. Jhye swots that one towards the long-off for a single.
17.5
4
D Gunathilaka to M Wade
FOUR!!! The outside edge of the bat and it rolls away towards the fence for a four here. A lucky edge and it rolls away towards the fence and the Aussies won't mind that one. Fuller length a tad outside the off. Wade goes for the drive but he gets the outside edge past the keeper and it rolls away towards the fence. With that, the Aussies take the unbeatable lead of 2-0 in this 3-match T20I series. They beat the Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in this match.
AUS won by 3 wickets
22.36 IST: That's it that's the victory for the Aussies and they have taken the unbeaten 2-0 lead in a 3 match series. In a do or die contest home side Sri Lanka had managed to put under par total of 124/9 with the contributions from Charith Asalanka(39) and Kusal Medis (36).
In reply, the Aussies got the flyer of a start as the opening duo of skipper Aaron Finch and David Warner added 33 runs on the board in just 2.3 overs before Finch got dismissed by Hasaranga. After that, the Australian batting collapsed like a pack of a card. Once the visitors were 0/33 and then they got slumped for 7/99. But thanks to the unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership between Matthew Wade(26*) and Jhye Richardson(9*) they have eventually chased down the total. After the odds were against Sri Lanka nearly for the first 23 overs of the match, they have put up a decent show to fight back in the contest. But unfortunately, that wasn't enough for them to prevent a series loss. Skipper Finch scored a quickfire 24 along with his partner Warner (21 off 10) who got run out after chaos between him and Maxwell. But even after the drastic collapse from the middle order Australia has pulled it off.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the pick of the bowler and one of the main reasons behind Sri Lanka's comeback in the contest, he bagged four wickets for his side. Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Thushara also managed to take a wicket each. Now the two sides will play the dead rubber of the three-match series at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Wanindu Hasaranga was the pick of the bowler and one of the main reasons behind Sri Lanka's comeback in the contest, he bagged four wickets for his side. Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Thushara also managed to take a wicket each. Now the two sides will play the dead rubber of the three-match series at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Matthew Wade(Man of the match): "Yes, the pressure was on in the last couple of moments of the match but glad we got over the line. Certainly, when they got the momentum they were on fire as their spinners kept the things really tight till the end. I know four overs were remaining so I played according to that and am glad that we snaked away with a win in tough conditions."
Dasun Shanaka(Sri Lankan skipper): "We were right there but unfortunately we couldn't get more runs with the bat. Different days and Different reasons, I guess today the top order failed to get the runs. We had a chat before the game regarding the extra seamer but will look to ploy that in the next game."
Aaron Finch, Australian Captain: Our bowling did a fantastic job to restrict Sri Lanka. The wicket deteriorated towards the end but Wade showed his experience there. A little bit of panic in the innings, but it can happen in these conditions. In the powerplay, we were looking to be aggressive in order to maximize the first 6 overs as we knew the wicket might get slow as the innings goes on.
This is Ishan signing off along with my co-commentator Ajay Ahire and our scorer cum analyst Paras Yadav. Until next time, Good Bye, Take Care, and Kudos!!!