Kusal Mendis' gritty 69 rallied Sri Lanka to edge Australia by five wickets in the fifth T20I match on Sunday (February 20). With this Lanka managed to avoid a series whitewash and also put a halt to Australia's unbeaten run in 2022. However Sri Lanka lost the five-match T20 series 1-4.
Mendis, while opening, smashed five fours and a six off 58 balls to help his side overhaul a target of 155 with one ball to spare at the MCG in Melbourne.
Needing nine off the last over, captain Dasun Shanaka (35 off 31) delivered the decisive blow as he pulled Kane Richardson for six off the quick’s third ball.
Left-arm all-rounder Daniel Sams was given the ball with Sri Lanka needing just one run from the final two deliveries.
Chamika Kaunaratne only needed one, as he slogged the ball into the vacant space beyond the in-field.
Some fine work by World Cup hero Matthew Wade had seen Australia set a “competitive score” after Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat. Wade, who saw Australia into last year’s World Cup final with some breathtaking batting against Pakistan in the semi-final, smashed an unbeaten 43 from 27.
His excellent innings saw Australia finish at 6-154 in the fifth and final T20 international, as the home side attempted to complete a series whitewash.
But Australia’s score always looked 10 short of par.
Australia lost the game in the power play, where they slumped to 2-12 off 4.5 overs.
Finch has now failed to register a half-century in 13 T20 internationals, while he has not reached double figures in seven of those games.
His latest failure, an 11-ball eight where he was well caught at mid-on after failing to deal with a slower ball from Dushmantha Chameera.
Fellow opener Ben McDermott’s “disappointing run of outs” continued too, as the right-hander lost his shape and got a thick outside edge as he attempted to hit over cow-corner and was out for a 13-ball 3.
After a brief recovery, Josh Inglis was forced to go after the ball glanced his glove before being clocked on the helmet after being beaten by pace from an excellent bouncer by Chameera and was forced to go for 23. Midway through their innings, Australia were 58/3 after 10 overs.
And when Glenn Maxwell (29) top-edged a cut shot and was caught at third man, Australia were in all sorts at 82/5. Cameos from Marcus Stoinis (17 off 10) and Daniel Sams (18 off 15) helped Australia recover, with Agar four not out. Sri Lanka got off to a flying start thanks to Mendis and Charith Asalanka (20 off 9), but two run outs left the visitors 71/4 and looked like signalling the end of their fight. But Shanaka and Mendis had other ideas, combining for an 83-run partnership.
