Highlight
A dominating Australia hammered Sri Lanka 39-0 as Maxwell smashed 39 off 25 balls.
This was Australia’s third straight T20 victory, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets.
With two games remaining, Australia has a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Australians thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets in Canberra on Tuesday to win their third straight Twenty20 match and clinch the series. Glenn Maxwell smashed 39 off 25 balls for Australia.
In a great performance, Glenn Maxwell smashed 39 out of 25 balls A six-wicket Australian victory over Sri Lanka on Tuesday in Canberra sealed the series for the visitors. As the series nears its conclusion, the defending champions hold a commanding 3-0 lead after winning the first match by 20 runs and prevailing in the second in a dramatic super-over finish following a tie. After losing two early wickets, captain Aaron Finch (35) and the big-hitting Maxwell steered the ship to victory at Manuka Oval.
Despite losing four wickets and needing an additional 19 balls to reach their total, they managed to do so.
Mitchell Starc returned to the team, while Ashton Agar and Daniel Sams were given a chance, according to Aaron Finch, who praised the depth of the team.
As a way to have a better sense of the depth of the team’s roster, “we’ve been shuffled some players around,” he said. “Also, everything is going well right now.”
Sri Lanka’s first two overs in the batting order yielded 17 runs, which was enough to keep the series alive.
However, Australia’s economical bowling stifled them to 121 for six, with captain Dasun Shanaka scoring 39 and Kane Richardson taking three wickets each.
Wanindu Hasaranga tested positive for Covid-19 before the match, and Nuwan Thushara was forced to retire after just seven balls because of a leg injury.
This is another awful start from our boys,” Shanaka lamented. “It’s been a huge problem throughout the series. We could have had those runs on the board if we had that momentum from the outset. In this game, we fell 20 to 30 runs short.”
The key role
Charith Asalanka at slip caught a thick edge from Ben McDermott off Mahesh Theekshana to give them momentum.
It took Theekshana just five overs to take out Ashton Agar for 13 and leave Australia on 31 for two in their first innings.
A three-hit comeback by Maxwell allowed Theekshana to take advantage of his own mistakes, as he went for one big hit too many after a pair of sixes and three fours and ended up losing the match.
Josh Inglis (21) and Marcus Stoinis (12) took the reins from Finch and guided the team to victory.
Before Danushka Gunathilaka was out to Richardson’s first ball in the third over, Sri Lanka had a strong start. After three innings, his place is in jeopardy because he has made 1, 0, and 9.
Asalanka smashed a six off the first ball of her innings, but Kusal Mendis’ comeback from Covid-19 was short-lived as he was caught behind by leg-spinner Agar after just 11 balls.
Maxwell took the wicket of Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka’s finest batsman in this series, but it was Sams’ diving catch that ended the visitors’ hopes of a comeback and put them in a precarious position at 42-4 after eight overs.
For the fifth wicket, Dinesh Chandimal and Shanaka put on 47, but the goal of 122 was never going to be a reasonable one.
