Sri Lanka set Australia 282 to win: second men’s one-day international – live
Sri Lanka learned the lessons of their false start in the first ODI and laid a solid platform for the strokemakers in the middle order. Kusal Mendis anchored the innings with 101, allowing Charith Asalanka (78 not out from 66 balls) and Janith Liyanage (32 not out from 21) to have some fun at the death.
It feels like Sri Lanka are favourites but Travis Head could change that in the space of a few overs. Jim Wallace will be here for the run-chase. see you soon.
50th over: Sri Lanka 281-4 (Asalanka 78, Liyanage 32) Sri Lanka end with a flourish, pillaging 17 from Hardie’s final over. Asalanka was dropped over the boundary for six by Short at wide long on, a bad miss that was compounded when Asalanka swiped the next ball down the ground for six more.
That’s an excellent effort from Sri Lanka, who went through the gears and hammered 85 from the last eight overs.
49th over: Sri Lanka 264-4 (Asalanka 64, Liyanage 31) Liyanage flashes Abbott over the two men on the edge of the circle and away for four. He then shapes to scoop, realises the ball is well wide of off stump and tries to reverse scoop instead. He can barely reach the ball – it would have been a wide had he missed it – and toe-ends it nowhere.
He makes up for it by cuffing six more down the ground. That aside it was a canny last over from Abbott, who finishes with figures of 10-0-41-1. Sri Lanka have scored 68 from the last seven overs.
48th over: Sri Lanka 254-4 (Asalanka 64, Liyanage 21) This is a cracking cameo from Liyanage, who works Dwarshuis off the hip for another boundary. Asalanka scoops the last ball of Dwarshuis’s spell for four to move to 64 from 61 balls.
Dwarshuis suffered a bit at the death but overall he bowled pretty well: 10-1-47-1.
47th over: Sri Lanka 242-4 (Asalanka 58, Liyanage 15) Liyanage opens the face to steer Abbott for four, the first boundary Abbott has conceded all day, and then picks him up over backards square for a mighty six. Shot!
Three overs to go.
46th over: Sri Lanka 230-4 (Asalanka 57, Liyanage 4) Asalanka turns a good over for Australia into a good one for Sri Lanka by heaving Dwarshuis’s last ball through midwicket for four. That was perfectly placed.
45th over: Sri Lanka 223-4 (Asalanka 52, Liyanage 2) Asalanka fiddles a Zampa googly for three, a classy stroke that brings up a stylish fifty from 54 balls. He probably wishes this was a five-match series because he’s in sublime form.
Five overs to go. Sri Lanka are well on course for 250, which most of the commentary team think would be extremely competitive.
Kusal slog-sweeps Zampa straight to deep midwicket, where Short takes a comfortable head-high catch. That was a terrific knock on an awkward pitch: 101 from 115 balls with 11 fours.
44th over: Sri Lanka 215-3 (Kusal 101, Asalanka 47) Kusal Mendis inside-edges Hardie for a single to reach a fine century from 113 balls. He’s playing second fiddle at the moment, despite reaching that milestone, and Asalanka pummels Hardie to the cover boundary to keep things moving. The last eight overs have gone for 63.
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Sri Lanka 214 (Asalanka 127, Wellalage 30, Abbott 3-61, Hardie 2-13, Ellis 2-23, Johnson 2-44) beat Australia 165 (Carey 41, Hardie 32, Theekshana 4-40, Fernando 2-23) by 49 runs
A weakened Australia started their Champions Trophy preparation with a 49-run defeat after Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka engineered a remarkable turnaround in a low-scoring first ODI with an extraordinary century in Colombo.
Just three days after the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy ended, Sri Lanka’s batting woes continued at 135 for 8 until Asalanka took over with a flurry in the backend and capitalised on a tiring Australia attack in humid conditions.
Asalanka made 127 off 126 balls, but took his time initially under sustained pressure before unfurling blistering shots around the wicket. He completely dominated a ninth-wicket partnership of 79 with Eshan Malinga, who finished unbeaten on 1 off 26 balls.
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Without Travis Head, Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell, Australia’s inexperienced top-order were blown away in their pursuit of 215. Australia made a poor start when Matt Short was out second ball for a duck after being pinned lbw by quick Asitha Fernando.
It was a disappointment for Short who looks set to open alongside Head at the Champions Trophy. He struggled against Pakistan in the white-ball series in November, but did smash a rapid century for Strikers in the BBL.
Jake Fraser-McGurk also endured a run of low scores against Pakistan and in the BBL before clubbing 95 off 46 balls for Renegades in their final game against Heat. It was a belligerent innings that brought him back into the national selection frame.
He usually is all crash and brash, but looked uncertain against the moving ball and his only scoring shots were singles. But on his ninth delivery Fraser-McGurk offered a leading edge which was well taken low by Fernando in his follow through.
Having made his Test debut last week, Cooper Connolly was given an opportunity at No. 3 in a role he relished with Scorchers in the recent BBL season. But Connolly, a travelling reserve for the Champions Trophy, was tied down and lost patience when he fell lbw to offspinner Maheesh Theekshana after missing a slog sweep.
The pressure was on stand-in skipper Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne as they seemingly had to revert to a Test cricket mindset given Australia’s predicament. But Smith tried to immediately put pressure on left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage only to play all over an attempted slog in perhaps his first mistake of the tour.
Labuschagne and Alex Carey were forced to rebuild in a 52-run partnership as they knocked the ball around. After his career best 156 in the second Test, Carey’s fluency was evident and he blasted three boundaries when legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga was introduced in the 15th over.
The situation appeared perfectly suited for Labuschagne, but on 15 he fell lbw to Theekshana and Carey followed in the next over after holing out to Asalanka for 41. Australia crashed to 85 for 6 and their slim hopes rested on Aaron Hardie and Sean Abbott, who had some nervous moments but battled to a 41-run partnership.
Abbott fell tamely when he offered a return catch to Theekshana, who wrapped up Sri Lanka’s comeback victory with the wicket of Spencer Johnson to finish with 4-40.
Sri Lanka did not qualify for the Champions Trophy, but continued their strong ODI form having claimed an eighth win from their last 12 matches.
The end result looked totally unlikely earlier in the day when Australia’s bowlers dominated much of Sri Lanka’s innings. Spin was expected to feature prominently on a dry surface, but Australia were rewarded for selecting a seam-heavy attack with considerable movement on offer amid occasional overcast skies.
With frontline quicks Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc out of the series and the subsequent Champions Trophy, Abbott, Hardie, Johnson and Nathan Ellis combined for nine wickets.
Sri Lanka’s top order was exposed against the moving ball after Asalanka elected to bat having won the toss. He eyed a total of around 270, but Australia’s quicks immediately found a dangerous back of a length.
Opener Pathum Nissanka hoped to shrug off a double failure in the second Test, but was undone by minimal footwork as Johnson claimed his first ODI wicket in his third match.
Having made all the right moves during the Test series, Smith’s gut instincts again proved correct when Hardie was given the new ball ahead of frontline quicks Ellis and Abbott. He dismissed Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis behind the wicket, bowling at speeds around 135kph.
He finished with 2 for 9 from his four-over opening spell having only returned to bowling late in the BBL season due to ongoing quad issues. It was a tonic for Australia, who will enter the Champions Trophy without the services of injured Mitchell Marsh and retired Marcus Stoinis.
Johnson claimed his second wicket when Kamindu Mendis’ poor run continued after he chipped tamely to square leg. Long touted as a successor to Starc, Johnson bowled consistently around 140kph and his rearing bounce created headaches for Sri Lanka’s batters.
It was left to Asalanka to turn things around and he started with a 67-run sixth-run partnership with Wellalage as they played legspinner Adam Zampa with ease.
Just when Sri Lanka had some momentum, Smith stepped in with a one-handed blinder to his right at slip when Wellalage poked at Short’s offspin.
Fresh off leading Hobart Hurricanes to their first BBL title, Ellis had been unlucky in his first spell but returned with the wickets of Hasaranga and Theekshana as Sri Lanka appeared set for a lowly score.
Asalanka had other ideas as he overcame cramps to turn the innings on its head. He hogged the strike, but received solid support from Malinga, whose sole intent was to block the rare deliveries he faced. Asalanka notched his fourth ODI century with a single off Ellis before Malinga scored his first run off the 21st delivery he had faced.
Asalanka’s heroics ended in the 46th over at the hands of Abbott, but he had well and truly sparked his team to life.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
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