Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd T20, Melbourne
Thisara Perera was the difference with the bat and then held his nerve,
although only barely, with the ball to seal a two-run victory off the
final delivery of a rain-reduced chase. In a heated finale, Glenn
Maxwell needed four runs from the last ball for victory and was
frustrated by a long conference held by several Sri Lanka players before
the delivery was bowled, and when Perera sent down the ball wide of off
Maxwell missed and all the batsmen could manage was a bye
The Sri Lanka players were jubilant but there were tense scenes as the
players walked off, Maxwell clearly annoyed at the Sri Lankans, and even
the handshakes involving players who weren't on the field at the end
became testy. It became that kind of night when rain interrupted
Australia's chase of 162 and despite the shower being short, the umpires
did not allow play to restart for 45 minutes due to difficulties drying
the outfield.
When the rain arrived after 10 overs, Australia were 15 runs behind on
the Duckworth-Lewis score at 2 for 60. By the time play resumed at
10.49pm Australia needed a further 62 runs from five overs. With Shaun
Marsh and George Bailey well set and eight wickets in hand, the new
target of 122 from 15 overs gave Australia hope of pulling off victory.
However, Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara proved especially difficult to
score off and while Bailey and Marsh managed to find 16 runs from Lasith
Malinga's only remaining over, and 12 off an over from Ajantha Mendis,
they were left needing 18 from the final over to be bowled by Perera.
The loss of Bailey, caught at deep midwicket for 45 from 36 balls, left
16 required from four balls with the new batsman Maxwell at the crease.
Perera briefly appeared to lose his nerve and sent down a no-ball above
waist height that helped the Australians and Maxwell then struck a pair
of fours through the off side to leave four needed from one. Fortunately
for Sri Lanka, Perera managed to deny him that boundary.
Australia's chase had started poorly with the loss of David Warner for 7
in the second over when he tried to thump Kulasekara through the leg
side but succeeded only in sending a leading edge to mid-off. That was
followed by the departure of his opening partner Aaron Finch for 7 in
the fifth over, lbw to the first ball Mendis bowled when he tried to
sweep a straight delivery.
After five overs the Australians were really struggling at 2 for 24, not
helped by Marsh being unable to find the gaps. He was nearly run out
and caught in the same over and appeared severely lacking in confidence
until he managed to clear long-on during Akila Dananjaya's first over
and followed it with a boundary through the gap at wide midwicket. But
Marsh and Bailey couldn't get Australia far enough advanced in their
chase when the rain came.
But really it was the final five overs of Sri Lanka's innings that made
the difference as Mahela Jayawardene and Thisara Perera put together an
unbeaten 59-run partnership from 28 balls. That pushed the total from
what looked like being 140ish to a much more competitive 4 for 161, and
left Australia needing the highest successful chase in a T20
international in Australia.
Jayawardene finished unbeaten on 61 from 45 deliveries and Perera on 35
from 15, justifying the captain Angelo Mathews' decision to send Perera
in ahead of himself. Ben Laughlin, who struggled to restrict the Sri
Lankans in the final few overs of the first match in Sydney, again had a
hard time bowling at the death and conceded 20 runs from the last over
of the innings.
That over started with a reverse sweep for four that brought Jayawardene
his fifty from 42 balls. It also included two more fours to the vacant
third-man area from Jayawardene and a top-edged six from Perera, leaving
Laughlin with 1 for 40 from his four overs.
James Faulkner, who had bowled a terrific initial spell of 1 for 3 from
his first two overs, also suffered at the hands of Perera and
Jayawardene in the later stages. He was struck over midwicket for six by
Perera, as well as dabbed delicately over short fine leg for four, and
Faulkner finished his four overs with 1 for 24.
The Sri Lanka top order had struggled in the first half of the innings
as Australia's bowlers used clever variations and took wickets to help
keep the runs down. Faulkner picked up his first international wicket in
the third over of the match when Tillakaratne Dilshan tried to pull his
slower ball and played on for 6 off 10 balls.
None of the Sri Lanka top three managed a strike rate of better than a
run a ball as they failed to pick the pace of the bowling, or the gaps
in the field. Dinesh Chandimal fell victim to a change in pace from
Laughlin, whose first ball of the game was a slower delivery that
Chandimal smoked through cover for four. But in the same over Laughlin's
quicker bouncer hurried Chandimal, who lobbed a catch to mid-off.
Kushal Perera, who had struck three crisp boundaries including two in a
Mitchell Starc over - Starc struggled with his line and sent down four
leg-side wides - fell for 15 when he tried to slog Glenn Maxwell over
the infield. The ball flew very high off the top edge and nearly struck
the hovering Spidercam, and provided a very tricky swirling catch for
the cover fielder Bailey, who ran almost a complete circle as he tried
to track the ball and successfully completed the take.
After ten overs the Sri Lankans were 3 for 56 and it wasn't until the
12th over of the innings that the first six was struck, when Jayawardene
slammed Maxwell straight down the ground. Jayawardene began to find his
touch but was lucky to survive a run-out chance on 36, when Jeevan
Mendis dropped the ball at his feet and took off for a run and the
bowler Laughlin had Jayawardene well covered - except he failed to pick
up the ball.
Mendis fell for 25 from 24 balls when he drove Xavier Doherty hard and
flat and was caught at long-off by Faulkner, ending a productive 63-run
partnership with Jayawardene that had been important in rebuilding the
Sri Lanka innings. To keep the left- and right-hand combination going,
Thisara Perera was promoted ahead of Mathews and the results were good
for Sri Lanka.
for the immediate transfer of Lewis Holtby.
