Sri Lanka seal Aussie series in cliff-hanger

By Shehan Daniel at the R Premadasa Stadium  

Dhananjaya de Silva was catalyst-in-chief as Sri Lanka turned a game that appeared destined for defeat into a last-ball win, sealing their first home ODI series win against Australia in almost 30 years.

Charith Asalanka’s maiden ODI century had given Sri Lanka a respectable total of 258, but playing on the same wicket that these two teams collectively scored almost 600 runs on despite its slow nature two days earlier, meant it was by no means a difficult target to chase.

And the Australians appeared well in control of the chase, the odds of a Sri Lankan win reducing the longer the fifth-wicket partnership between David Warner and Travis Head continued.

On course for his first ODI hundred since January 2020, Warner had swatted away everything Sri Lanka threw in his direction, particularly by the formidable quartet of spinners the home team had selected for this match, striking up partnerships with Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey and Head.

The turning point then, was when de Silva was introduced for a second spell, the equation reading slightly in Australia’s favour – 75 needed off 15 overs with five wickets in hand.

De Silva ended Head’s dogged  innings of 27 in his first over back, before beating Warner’s outside edge and drawing him forward just enough to be stumped by Niroshan Dickwella for 99, in his next over.

In between those two overs, Maheesh Theekshana accounted for the crucial wicket of Glenn Maxwell, forever a thorn for the home side, given out leg before wicket on review.

A spell of nine boundary-less overs followed between the 39th and 48th overs, the required run rate going up as Sri Lanka’s spinners kept chipping away. 

Pat Cummins made a resistive 35 off 43, before Chamika Karunaratne trapped him leg before wicket with a searing yorker that would have made Lasith Malinga proud.

Australia needed 19 runs off the final over and although Matthew Kunhemann struck three boundaries off Dasun Shanaka to give the home team one last scare, Sri Lanka held on for a memorable four-run win – another improbable win for this young group of players on this tour.  

Earlier, Asalanka’s maiden ODI century and a fifty from de Silva had helped Sri Lanka dig themselves out of the hole they were in at 35 for 3 after the first ten overs.

That those wickets were the three batsmen who had set the platform and done most of the heavy lifting in Sri Lanka’s six-wicket win on Sunday, may have triggered a sense of anxiety in the home camp, but the assuredness that de Silva and Asalanka brought to crease ensured it didn’t grow into full-blown panic.

De Silva edged the scale in terms of runs and influence in their partnership, showing soft hands and finesse to find the boundary more freely than Asalanka, scoring seven of the nine 4s in their 100-ball 101-run stand.

He looked so good that it appeared as if only something special could dismiss de Silva, and so it was the case when Glenn Maxwell plucked a one-handed catch at midwicket.

A 15-ball lull followed de Silva’s wicket, with Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka managing just three singles in that short phase, but the former shook the innings back to life with two boundaries over successive overs – the second brining up his half-century in the 60th delivery faced.

In the ball immediately after however, both Asalanka and Shanaka found themselves at the same end of the pitch following a mix-up and the captain opted to take the fall and return to the dugout.

Asalanka, for his part, didn’t throw away the lifeline his captain afforded him, reaching his century 39 balls later.

A 57-run partnership with Dunith Wellalage put Sri Lanka on course for a big score, the hosts on 207 when the all-rounder was caught out in the 41st over.

But the hosts could not quite push on, with only Wanindu Hasaranga scoring in double digits among the last four Sri Lanka batsmen, after Asalanka holed out for 110. 

Photo: Sri Lankan players celebrate David Warner’s wicket (pic by Kushan Pathiraja)