Sri Lanka v Australia, 3rd ODI - 5 Talking Points

This match meant a lot to the home side as Tillakaratne Dilshan was playing his farewell ODI match and the home side wanted to give him a fitting farewell by winning the match, but unfortunately for Sri Lanka, they failed to do so as they lost the game. Despite losing the toss, David Warner kept on attacking the opposition, and the bowlers gave him good support. For the third consecutive time, Mitchell Starc struck in the very first over for Australia and Josh Hazlewood backed it up with the wicket of the in-form batsman Kusal Mendis.

However, Dinesh Chandimal, who became the fourth fastest Sri Lankan to 3000 ODI runs behind Upul Tharanga (93 innings), Marvan Atapattu (94 innings) and Mahela Jayawardene (102 innings), made sure that the home side posted a decent target of 227. Australia didn’t get off to the best of the starts, but the middle order batsmen stood together to make sure that the team sailed over the line with 2 wickets in hand.

1. Adam Zampa’s 3-for:

Zampa took over the responsibility of being the only spinner in the side after off-spinner Nathan Lyon was dropped for this match. He claimed 3 wickets in the middle part of the innings, which made sure that Sri Lanka never got the upper hand. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was playing his farewell match, was Zampa’s first wicket as he tried to dispatch a low full toss but only to end in the hands of George Bailey at mid-wicket and brought an end to the biggest partnership Sri Lanka had in their innings.

He didn’t take much time to send the Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews back to the pavilion as he trapped him lbw for 2. Mathews reviewed Aleem Dar’s decision, but the on-field call stood as the third umpire ruled him out. Seekkuge Prasanna was his next wicket, who picked out deep mid-wicket. Zampa finished with bowling figures of 3 for 38 from 10 overs.

Also read – Twitter Reactions: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 2 wickets in a close finish

2. Dinesh Chandimal held things together:

Once again it was Dinesh Chamdimal who continued his rich form and held the innings together with his 6th fifty plus score in the last 7 innings. He top-scored and brought up his fourth hundred to take his team to 226. Chandimal added 73 runs with Dilshan. After Dilshan’s dismissal, he ran out of partners but still managed to stitch a patient innings of 102 from 130 deliveries with 7 boundaries. This is his second ton in 2016, first ODI hundred in Sri Lanka and the first against Australia. He was the last batsman to be dismissed in the Sri Lankan innings as Faulkner claimed his wicket.

3. Three wickets in a span of 13 runs:

Australian opening pair of David Warner and Aaron Finch started off aggressively but suddenly lost their way as the Sri Lankan skipper gave the home side the first break-through dismissing the opposition skipper, Warner, who checked his jab with hard hands where Dilshan dived low to complete the catch – Australia was 31/1.

Aaron Finch was the next one to go, as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Amila Aponso. Finch played for the turn but it didn’t and the scoreboard read 42/2. Shaun Marsh was the next to go, who came in as a replacement for Steve Smith on the back of some good performances in the Test series. He chipped Mathews to mid-off as the visitors found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 44/3.

4. George Bailey’s match winning innings:

After the loss of the top 3, George Bailey and Travis Head combined for a vital 62 runs partnership which brought Australia back into the contest. After the dismissal of Head (36), Bailey along with the wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Wade added the highest partnership of the match of 81 runs for the 5th wicket to take Australia closer to victory.

Also read – Every moment I wanted to contribute, with the bat, ball or on the field: Tillakaratne Dilshan

Bailey scored 70 runs from 99 deliveries with 5 boundaries and Wade added 42 runs to the total. However, after both the batsmen were dismissed Australia twisted around but the tailenders made sure that Australia sailed home safely.

5. Aussies lead the series 2-1:

Under the new skipper David Warner, Australia won the 3rd ODI to lead the series 2-1. There was a lot of criticism for the way the Smith left the team and on the way, Australia lost the second ODI, however, the team showed today that they can adapt to the conditions as well. This win will give a lot of confidence as they are now a win away from winning the ODI series.

Also read – Sri Lanka v Australia, 3rd ODI Review: Australia clinch a close win to go 2-1 up