Dasun Shanaka’s heroics take Sri Lanka to a last-ball victory over Australia in the third T20I

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Skipper Dasun Shanaka’s heroics take Sri Lanka to victory in the last-ball thriller

Dasun Shanaka played the skipper’s knock of 54 off just 25 balls to take his side across the line over Australia in a last-ball thriller of the third T20I.

Dasun Shanaka played the skipper’s knock of 54 off just 25 balls to take his side across the line over Australia in a last-ball thriller of the third T20I. 

Batting first, Australia posted a massive total and the win came unlikely when the hosts were 108/6 in the 16th over. 

However, the skipper out of nowhere played an outstanding knock which saw Sri Lanka scoring 69 runs in the last 25 balls to chase down the target of 177 and snatch the victory right from the hands of Australia.

Australia while batting first had a great start in their openers – David Warner (43) and Aaron Finch (29) – and then Warner put a 42 runs stand with Glenn Maxwell but then Sri Lanka made a superb comeback after picking three wickets in three balls, Maxwell lost his wicket on 16 off 9, Warner on 39 and Josh Inglis on the first-ball duck. 

However, Marcus Stoinis then scored 38 off 23 balls to get the visitors back on the track. Even if he lost his wicket on the 16th over, Steve Smith’s 27 balls 37 and Mathew Wade’s contribution of 13 helped Australia post a total of 176/5.

Maheesh Theekshana picked up two wickets, and Wanindu Hasaranga and Praveen Jayawickrama picked up a single wicket each. 

Aaron Finch is named Player of the Series:

“I’m happy with our performance throughout the series, it was just an unbelievable knock by Dasun tonight. We felt that the pitch slowed down a bit towards the end of our innings, so we didn’t think it made too much of a difference whether we batted first or second. In general, we’re quite comfortable with our side and our options.” 

Dasun Shanaka is the Man of the Match:

“At the initial moment when I went out to the crease, so I took a few balls to get in. I think my strike rate was around 50. I read the wicket really well and kept my wicket on the other side without throwing it away. And in the end, I was hoping I’d be able to finish the game. Toss is always important in Sri Lanka, and maybe it wasn’t the best decision to bat first. We hope to take this momentum forward into the ODI series.” 

Sri Lanka 177 for 6 (Shanaka 54*, Stoinis 2-8, Hazlewood 2-25) beat Australia 176 for 5 (Warner 39, Stoinis 38, Theekshana 2-25) by four wickets

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