6 wicket win for Australia against Sri Lanka

The third T20I between Australia and Sri Lanka was won by Australia by 6 wickets at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Tuesday. In the five-match series, the hosts have grabbed an unassailable 3-0 lead. Despite losing both openers Ben McDermott and Ashton Agar early, Australia won the match.

Australia won the toss and elected to bowl. Sri Lanka, skipper Dasun Shanaka and veteran batter Dinesh Chandimal played gutsy knocks after the visitors were reduced to 40 for four at one stage. Captain Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell lay the foundation for their pursuit. Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis finished the game, Kane Richardson had earlier taken three wickets as Australia reduced Sri Lanka to 121 for 6. Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, and Glenn Maxwell all have grabbed a wicket.

Player of the match expresses delight

“I wasn’t at my best the other night so it was nice to bounce back. I think bowling first suiting my strength. T20 cricket you don’t always look at the result, you just want to know that what you did was executed as best as you can. The length I bowled the other night was a little bit too full.”

AUS skipper experimenting with the squad

“The depth is one thing that we’re trying to expose a little bit more and shuffling guys around to get some more information on the depth of the squad and it’s looking really good at the moment. The way that Daniel Sams came in and had an impact, Josh Inglis being able to slide down to no.5 and have a really good impact. It’s really good signs. That’s just a strategic thing. If we want to change the way that we structure up our side to potentially play two quicks, two spinners and a few allrounders, we’re probably going to have to look at structuring up the game that way a little bit. Not necessarily with Ash [Agar] at the top all the time but we still feel as though having seven genuine batters is really important.”

Dasun Shanaka disappointed

 “No positives today. Yet again a poor start from our boys. It’s been throughout the series a major concern. If we had that momentum going from the start we could get more runs on the board. We were 20-30 runs short in this game. We need to bat better in the first six overs of the game.”

Australia XI: Aaron Finch ©, Ben McDermott, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Daniel Sams, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood

Sri Lanka: Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dasun Shanaka ©, Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara

Australia will travel to Melbourne with the series already secured. In the final two games at the MCG, they will have the opportunity to try new tactics. In this series, Sri Lanka has seen its share of highs and lows. The Covid-19 absences haven't helped, but if they want to win a game on this tour, they'll have to find some runs.

No of how well Sri Lanka bowled in the match, it seemed inevitable that they would finish second, and that is exactly what happened. Their batsmen had already failed them, thus the bowlers’ efforts should be praised for taking the ball as far as they could. Due to the absence of Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana took on the role of senior spinner, and his carrom balls created issues for the Australians. He took three wickets in total and was remarkably precise. Apart from him, no other bowler posed a significant threat to the hosts.