'Got one-dimensional, a little too predictable' - Andrew McDonald assesses Australia's loss in final Sri Lanka T20I

Australia‘s head coach Andrew Mcdonald has said that his side was a little too predictable and lacked variety against Sri Lanka in the final T20I. The hosts produced a stunning chase by scoring 59 off the last three overs and skipper Dasun Shanaka (54*) made merry at the expense of the Australians.

The Men in Yellow will start as the defending champions in the T20 World Cup 2022 this year and they will be looking to sort out some areas of concern ahead of the tournament. One of those areas has been the death bowling. The regulars like Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are yet to return, while Josh Hazlewood despite being good with his lengths but has gone for runs at times. He went for 22 runs off the 18th over in the final T20I which set up the momentum for an excellent finish for the Sri Lankan side.

Probably went away from what made us really good: Andrew McDonald

Mcdonald noted that there have been talks with the players to improve on their decision-making and felt that the Aaron Finch-led side was too predictable in the final game against Sri Lanka. He mentioned that chasing a total had taken the pressure off them in the first two games and noted about the side was playing really good cricket for the most part of the third T20. He was delighted that Australia are getting exposed to tough situations and felt that it will help them moving forward.

“The small reviews we had last night with individuals was that if you had the time again you’d have taken some different options. We felt we got a little one-dimensional at certain periods, a little too predictable and probably went away from what made us really good in the first two games, albeit we weren’t defending a total,” head coach Andrew McDonald was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“We feel that pressure probably took us away at times from what made us really good. We’ve been really good over a period of time and even last night you could argue that for 34 overs that we playing really good cricket. We’ve got some personnel who are getting exposed to situations which is always a positive,” he added.