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Scorecard Summary
SRI LANKA 124/9 (20 OVERS)
- Kusal Mendis36 (36)
- Charith Asalanka39 (33)
- Kane Richardson4/30 (4)
- Jhye Richardson3/26 (4)
AUSTRALIA 126/7 (17.5 OVERS)
- Aaron Finch24 (13)
- Matthew Wade*26 (26)
- Wanindu Hasaranga4/33 (4)
- Nuwan Thushara1/18 (2)
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: Madushka Balasuriya
And with that it's a wrap from myself, Gnasher and the team. Thanks for keeping us company. See you again on Saturday for the final T20, when the action moves to Pallekele. Till then, goodbye! Mustafa Moudi : "Comparing this match with yesterday's match, Toss Result - Same (Aus elected to Field), SL's first innings Score - Same, Result - Same (Aussies Won)... But a huge difference today was the competitiveness. This match was not a boring one-sided affair like yesterday!!"
Australian Captain Aaron Finch: "Our whole bowling unit did a fantastic job to restrict Sri Lanka on that wicket, one that probably deteriorated as the game went on. Mathew Wade also showed his experience taking us through. There was a little bit of panic from our end, but that can happen when the crowd gets involved. But the thing we had going for us was there was no run rate pressure, and it's a wonderful crowd to play cricket in front of."
Sri Lankan Captain Dasun Shanaka: "We were right there, but unfortunately we were not able to capitalise with the bat. Different days, different reasons [for the batting failures], today the top order fell early. The difference is also playing the conditions, and today in Khettarama we didn't deal with the conditions well."
So time for the presentation ceremony. First up, Mathew Wade is Man of the Match, for keeping his head and steering his side to a nervy win.
Wade: "There was a bit going, and we know Sri Lanka are a difficult team to face at home, especially when the crowd get behind them. When they get momentum they're a difficult team to pull back. We just knew we needed to get through their two main spinners and tick off the runs. It certainly helped that guys got off to a flyer at the start, so the run rate wasn't really an issue. And it was good that I was there at the end to see us through."
10.37pm So Sri Lanka finally gave their fans something to cheer, and nearly pulled off a miraculous escape, but Mathew Wade, with an unbeaten 26, and Jhye Richardson (9*) held on to ensure the series win. They put on 27 for the eighth wicket, which was Australia's second-best partnership after Warner and Finch opened with 33. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Australian chase, that was derailed by a combination of tight Sri Lankan bowling, a deteriorating pitch and some careless play by the Australians. Wanindu Hasaranga with match figures of 4 for 33 almost turned the game, helping reduce the visitors to 7 for 99, but Sri Lanka rue not going with an extra spinner as Wade was able to wait out Hasaranga and Theekshana and see the game out. The Lankan batters were also about 20-30 runs short - the second game running the batting unit has failed - and in the end that proved to be the difference. Sri Lanka though will take a lot of heart from this performance for the tour going forward.
END OF OVER:17 | 2 Runs | AUS: 118/7 (7 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.94, RRR: 2.33)
- Jhye Richardson8 (18b)
- Matthew Wade19 (23b)
- Charith Asalanka3-0-7-0
- Nuwan Thushara2-0-18-1
Match Coverage
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Richardsons, Maxwell, and Wade star in Australia's wobbly but series sealing win
Wanindu Hasaranga's heroics were not enough as Sri Lanka's 124 ended up a subpar total
'Told him not to walk out into the ball' - the Warner advice that might have helped Finch
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