END OF OVER:50 | 14 Runs 1 Wkt | AUS: 254/10 (5 runs required, RR: 5.08)
- Josh Hazlewood0 (1b)
- Dasun Shanaka2-0-27-1
- Chamika Karunaratne5-1-19-2
A sensational series win by Sri Lanka. They have been the better team throughout and have thoroughly deserved their victory. Game 5 will take place in Colombo on Friday but it will be a dead rubber. Both teams will then head to Galle for the two-Test series. Thanks for your company tonight. We'll see you on Friday.
Presentation Dasun Shanaka: "After Chamika bowled that over we had a discussion about bowling a spinner but it was the right idea to challenge myself. I was very confident about the score. We were 34 for 3 at one stage and Charith and DDS put on a really good partnership and unfortunately we were not able to capitalise at the end. But I was very happy with the score we were able to put on. Not only for me, my teammates, Sri Lanka cricket, the whole country, this is much needed at the moment. I think this should be celebrated by the whole of Sri Lanka."Aaron Finch: "The series has gone the same way the previous few games have. Any time we look like getting a big partnership and then kicking on we just lose a wicket. We know how hard it is to start in these conditions against good spin and they made the most of the small opportunities we gave them. That total was very gettable. We got so close. I think a couple of times we've had the game under control in terms of the run-rate, it's never got out of hand, and we've just let that slip by just losing wickets at the wrong point."Player of the match is Charith Asalanka for his maiden international century. Asalanka: "It was a really strong challenge with the mighty Australians. I wanted to mention Dhananjaya de Silva's innings. It gave me a lot of release. He scored freely and that's why I played a long innings."
Karunaratne runs to grab a stump. Sri Lanka players run onto the field to celebrate. The crowd goes wild. Sri Lanka win by four runs and lead the series 3-1. Phew. What a moment for the home side. Amid everything that is going on, this series has brought some great joy and excitement. Has been a fantastic performance from then. Australia, though, have some thinking to do. They have again collapsed from a strong position against spin. Nice scenes in the middle as David Warner shakes Percy's hand.
MP Kuhnemann c Asalanka b Shanaka 15 (31m 12b 3x4 0x6) SR: 125.00
5 off 1. Four for a tie. What a match. A lot of advice flying around. A group of Sri Lanka players have gathered together. And we still aren't ready. More discussions. Deep square comes up. Fine leg has gone back. Short third inside the ring
9 off 2. How are Shanaka's nerves. It's not been a great over
13 off 3