SL v Aus 2nd ODI Review – Sri Lanka hit back hard to level the series

Sri Lanka made a great comeback in the ODI series to beat Australia by a comfortable 82 runs to level the scoreline 1-1. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, half -centuries from Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathew, and Kusal Perera saw the hosts post a respectable target of 288 despite some superb show from the Australian bowlers.

The Australians, in reply, were totally incompetent with the bat and surrendered for just 206 in 47.2 over to lose the game. Spin played the villain yet again for the Australians as left-arm spinner Amila Aponso claimed stunning figures of 4/18.

Sri Lanka did not have the best of the start today. Openers Danusha Gunathilaka and Tillakaratne Dilshan seemed to be struggling against the pace-spin opening combination Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Both the bowlers were successful in bringing the early breakthroughs for their team, snapping Dilshan and Gunathilaka respectively and reduce the hosts 12/2 initially.

However, things soon became stable for the Lankans. Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis joined together and bailed their team out of trouble with a dominating 3rd wicket stand of 125 runs. The Australians bowlers suddenly had to face a dry run. Both batted with a contrasting approach but kept the pressure on the opposition. While Mendis opted to play with a bit more attacking approach, Chandimal stuck to batting with a defensive approach.

Things went on smoothly for the host until the 25th over but the next five overs saw things change drastically in favor of the visitors. The duo carried forward their team strongly before Adam Zampa snarled three quick wickets in a short span to bring back his team into the game. The leg-spinner trapped both Chandimal and Mendis in the 25th and the 27th over and then made Dhananjaya Silva depart cheaply to put the pressure back on the Lankans.

But, skipper Angelo Mathew and Kusal Perera put Sri Lanka back on track by stitching a crucial 103 runs partnership for the 6th wicket and take their teams to a comfortable position in the game. However, James Faulkner, the man of the match in the previous game, made his presence once again, this time by taking an ODI hat-trick.

His hat-trick was spread across two overs with his wickets coming off the last ball of the 46th over and the first two deliveries of the 48th over. The first to go was Kusal Perera who lost his wicket falling leg before while trying to reverse-sweep a slower one. Coming back in the next over, Faulkner added Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera to register the first hat-trick of this year.

Thanks to his bowling magic in the final overs, Australia was able to stop the host from getting past the 300 mark and bowled them out for 288 in 48.5 overs.

Australia, in reply, got off to a shaky start as well losing their key men – openers David Warner and Aaron Finch – for single digit scores. The chase suffered another huge setback after left arm spinner Amila Aponso snapped the dangerous looking Steven Smith in the 10th over.

George Bailey and Mathew Wade then took control and slowly built the chase. However, Aponso intervened once again to break the 61 run 3rd wicket stand between the duo. Wade continued to fight back and found support in Travis Head. Both did a commendable job but their resistance was brought to an end soon by Angelo Mathews. Following the end of this partnership, the Australians began to crumble slowly as the tail-enders failed to take the chase forward. Aponso added two more wickets to his name while Angelo Mathews took another to wrap the Australian innings for just 206 runs.

It was a commendable all-round show from the hosts after being beaten in the series opener. But, the Lankans pulled the strings together just when it appeared that the Australians have found a foot in the series. It didn’t appear to be a one-sided game until the Sri Lankan bowlers led by Aponso ran through opposition.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka: 288 all out in 48.5 overs (Kusal Mendis 67; Adam Zampa 3/42)

Australia: 206 all out in 47.2 overs (Mathew Wade 76; Amila Aponso 4/18)

Player of the match: Angelo Mathews