In a sudden turn of events, an underperforming team has turned the tables around. Sri Lanka has inflicted a 3-1 series loss upon Australia. In times like these, where the island nation is battling extreme issues such as economic crisis, they had some breath of fresh air as the Lankan tigers sealed the ODI series in their favor against the mighty Aussies. A game that went till the last ball courtesy of Matthew Kuhnemann's heroics gave the Sri Lankan people loads of reasons to celebrate.
Sri Lanka had set a score of 258 for the Aussies which did not feel enough considering the batting lineup they had at their disposal. It was a tough task for skipper Shanaka and his troops to defend the target, but they were fantastic with their game plans as they never allowed the Aussies to get back into the game. Despite wickets crumbling from the other end, David Warner continued his heroics and tried to pull the Aussies out of trouble, but to his misfortune, he was dismissed on 99 by Dahananjaya de Silva. With the series win out of their hands, Australia will now look to minimize the margin of the loss.
Charith Asalanka batted Sri Lanka out of trouble as he hit a 106-ball 110 along with his partner Dhananjaya de Silva who scored 60 from 61 deliveries for Sri Lanka. Asalanka acknowledged his knock and said “against such a quality attack it was a tough ask and we are glad we came through. I walked in with us three down for not many inside 10 overs. Special credit to Dhananjaya de Silva, who took the pressure off me with the way he batted. This is Sri Lanka's first bilateral series win against Australia since 2010 and their first bilateral series win on home soil against Australia since 1992.
(Inputs from PTI)
