Twitter Reactions: Australia seal series victory at Dambulla riding on half centuries by Finch and Bailey

The Australian team secured a second victory on the trot at Dambulla as they sealed the series 3-1 with 1 match to go. Earlier in the day, Captain Angelo Mathews won the toss as Sri Lanka elected to bat first. The hosts had Angelo Perera and Avishka Fernando coming in the XI. Usman Khawaja came in for the Aussies.

Sri Lanka didn’t have a good start as they were reduced to 31/3. Chandimal who played a brilliant innings in the last game got just 5 runs in his kitty. Opener Dhananjaya stepped up with a gritty knock of 76 runs. Mathews supported him with a slowly paced 40.

However, the other batsmen failed to match upto the expectations. Sri Lanka got all out for 212 runs off the last ball. Hastings made a merry of the Sri Lankan batting order with a six wicket haul. Boland, Starc, Zampa and Head, all got one wicket each.

Finch got Australia off to a splendid start. In what was the fastest fifty by an Australian in ODIs, Finch went on to smash 55 from 19 balls. The innings had 8 boundaries and 3 sixes. Once Finch got out, Australia lost three quick wickets to Pathirana.

Khawaja got dismissed for a duck while Warner again didn’t have a decent score inspite of the start he got. From there on, Bailey played a significant innings of 90 runs from 85 deliveries as he put on 100 runs partnership along with Travis Head for the fourth wicket.

Australia thus cruised to the target quite comfortably as they won by 6 wickets with 19 overs to spare. Twitter had some amazing reactions to the game. Right from lauding Dhananjaya Silva to trolling the SL top order, right from lauding Finch and Bailey to trolling the bowling tactics of the hosts,

Here are some of the Twitter reactions that took place during the course of the game

That was the most balls left chasing a total of over 200 on Sri Lankan soil in Cricket History! #SLvAUS

— CricketAus Fan (@CricketAustFan) August 31, 2016

Bailey averages 46 in the last one year as well. I just think he smiles too much to be liked by AUS fans 😉

— Bharath Ramaraj (@Fancricket12) August 31, 2016

Too full, too fast, too short – three variations of SL spinners this series. Wouldn't be a problem if the score is 270. 220s are meh.

— Alagappan Vijaykumar (@IndianMourinho) August 31, 2016

Australia one more run after 30 overs than England yesterday (although three more wickets) #SLvAUS

— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) August 31, 2016

A massive win for Australia, chasing 213 with 19 overs spare to secure the series with a 6 wicket win #SLvAus pic.twitter.com/TsNpcYGpKG

— ICC (@ICC) August 31, 2016

Great 2 see @travishead34 get a meaningful opportunity under pressure at No 5 Vs spin instead of down at No 7 This invaluable for future ?

— Darren Berry (@ChuckBerry1969) August 31, 2016

https://twitter.com/holdingwilley/status/770992616846393344

Win or lose… The tactics for this match has been outstanding by Australia. Now the hard grind is on..
Good match here. #SLvAUS

— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) August 31, 2016

In last 24 hours we have seen a 50 off 18 balls by Finch, off 22 twice by Aamir & Buttler, 24 by Morgan and 26 by Sharjeel. #SLvAus #EngvPak

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 31, 2016

George Bailey's first six balls:
2 4 4 4 6 2

Australia 97 for 2 after seven overs https://t.co/TjlWN8bQ5h #SLvAUS

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 31, 2016

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/770983409804046336

Excellent batting! @AaronFinch5 equals the fastest ODI fifty by an Australian, just 18 balls! #SLvAus pic.twitter.com/8xEnw4InG4

— ICC (@ICC) August 31, 2016

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 4, 4, 4, 0, 1, 2, 4, 4, 6, 2, 0, 4, 4, 2, 1, 4, 4 – Australia's innings so far. 54/0 in 4 overs. #SLvAUS

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) August 31, 2016

John Hastings 6-45 the best bowling by an Aust in ODI in Sri Lanka since Mitchell Johnson's 6-31 at Pallekele in 2011 #SLvAUS

— Andrew Ramsey (@ARamseyCricket) August 31, 2016

Runners should be reinstated. The problem with players abusing them was overstated; the game would benefit from Mathews having one. #SLvAUS

— Paul Dennett (@the_summer_game) August 31, 2016

I was wondering where Matty Wade got his gloves. #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/cF4PVScFhk

— Cat Jones (@Cricketbatcat) August 31, 2016

Can someone please turn MWade down? #SLvAUS

— Ric Finlay (@RicFinlay) August 31, 2016

Nice innings by de Silva but others have struggled. 240 will be a competitive score I reckon so Aussies need a few more wickets #SLvAUS

— Brett Graham (@worldofBG) August 31, 2016

A lot of people are going to have a lot of fun writing on Dhananjaya, if he turns out to be as good as he’s suggesting. #SLvAUS

— Andrew F Fernando (@andrewffernando) August 31, 2016

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/770935371534303232

https://twitter.com/denniscricket_/status/770917877281009664

No doubts about that one. Sri Lanka 1-1 in the first over. https://t.co/0514Jsc1HC #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/3dI8hapPhB

— FOX SPORTS Cricket (@FOXCricketLive) August 31, 2016

https://twitter.com/brydoncoverdale/status/770910162982809600e