Australia won the last match of the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka sealed the series by winning three consecutive games. Meanwhile, Australia won the first and the last matches of the series.
Match Report
Sri Lanka welcomed Australia at the Premadasa Stadium to play the final ODI of the series. Dasun Shanaka, the captain of Sri Lanka, won the toss at the Premadasa Stadium and decided to bat first. Danushka Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka started the batting innings for the home team. But, they couldn’t do well like in the previous matches.
Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood brought a breakthrough for Australia as he picked up the wicket of Pathum Nissanka in the 3rd over. His opening spell was mindblowing. It was challenging for the Lankan batters to face Josh Hazlewood. In addition, he hit again in the 5th over. This time, Hazlewood picked up Danushka Gunathilaka.
Sri Lanka’s top and middle order couldn’t contribute much in this match. Due to the aggression of Australian bowlers, the Lankan batters lost their wickets in a concise period of time. However, Kusal Mendis tried to tackle the disaster. But he departed the pitch in the 16th over. Before losing the wicket, Mendis scored 26 runs for the team.
It seemed the home team could become all out before hundred runs. But Chamika Karunaratne played a very crucial innings for the team. He scored a significant 75 runs for Sri Lanka. Relying on his bat, Sri Lanka scored 160 runs for all wickets.
The Australian side struggled to chase down the tiny target. They were losing the wickets quickly due to the aggression of Lankan bowlers. Australia lost four wickets within 50 runs. Aaron Finch, the skipper of Australia, departed the pitch without scoring any runs for the team.
However, Marnus Labuschagne and the keeper, Alex Carey, handled the situation. They were very careful on the pitch. Marnus Labuschagne scored 31 runs before his departure. Meanwhile, Alex Carey remained not out in 45 runs. Depending on these scores, Australia chased the target in 40 overs. As a result, the Aussies won the match by 4 wickets.
