PALLEKELE - Fast bowler Chamika Karunaratne led an inspired Sri Lankan attack to pull off a thrilling 26-run win over Australia in the rain-hit second One-Day International (ODI) on Thursday.
Chasing a rain-revised target of 216 in 43 overs, Australia suffered from regular wicket falls to get bowled out for 189 in 37.1 overs as Sri Lanka bounced back from their opening loss in the five-match series in Pallekele. Karunaratne returned figures of 3-47 including Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, and was ably supported by fellow quick Dushmantha Chameera who got the final batsman to bring the raucous home crowd to its feet. Spinners Dhananjaya de Silva, DunithWellalage and Chameera took two wickets each.
Earlier, De Silva also scored 34 with the bat and put on 61 runs for the third wicket with Kusal Mendis, who made 36, to guide Sri Lanka to 220 for nine when rain forced play to stop and late end the innings. Pat Cummins returned figures of 4-35 but his effort went in vain.
Australia lost their openers Aaron Finch, on 14, and David Warner, on 37, to De Silva as the tourists faltered in their tricky chase on a seemingly tough pitch to bat. Smith and Travis Head attempted to rebuild the innings and put together 31 runs before Karunaratne broke through.
Karunaratne got Smith for 28 and Wellalage’s two wickets of Head (23) and Marnus Labuchagne (18) in his two overs put the Aussies in trouble at 132-5. Maxwell hit back to unsettle the bowlers in his brief stay at the wicket but finally mistimed a shot to get caught at cover off Karunaratne. He made 30 off 25 balls. Wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey was run out for 15 as wheels came off the Australian chase.
Speaing during the post-match media talk, player of the match Chamika Karunaratne said: “After a long time, I was waiting for this moment. I know I can do well and it’s come today and I’m so happy about it. Everything is planning...I’m always thinking out of the box. I’m always challenging batsmen. I always like to take a risk.”
Australian captain Aaron Finch said: “The fielding, we were very poor. Guys getting starts and not going on, similar to the last game. It was very poor [in the field]… we could have attacked the ball more. Chasing in these conditions is something we need to keep improving on. Tonight showed we were off the pace a bit.”
Scores in brief
SRI LANKA 220 for 9 (Mendis 36, de Silva 34, Shanaka 34, Cummins 4-35) beat AUSTRALIA 189 (Karunaratne 3-47).
Chasing a rain-revised target of 216 in 43 overs, Australia suffered from regular wicket falls to get bowled out for 189 in 37.1 overs as Sri Lanka bounced back from their opening loss in the five-match series in Pallekele. Karunaratne returned figures of 3-47 including Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, and was ably supported by fellow quick Dushmantha Chameera who got the final batsman to bring the raucous home crowd to its feet. Spinners Dhananjaya de Silva, DunithWellalage and Chameera took two wickets each.
Earlier, De Silva also scored 34 with the bat and put on 61 runs for the third wicket with Kusal Mendis, who made 36, to guide Sri Lanka to 220 for nine when rain forced play to stop and late end the innings. Pat Cummins returned figures of 4-35 but his effort went in vain.
Australia lost their openers Aaron Finch, on 14, and David Warner, on 37, to De Silva as the tourists faltered in their tricky chase on a seemingly tough pitch to bat. Smith and Travis Head attempted to rebuild the innings and put together 31 runs before Karunaratne broke through.
Karunaratne got Smith for 28 and Wellalage’s two wickets of Head (23) and Marnus Labuchagne (18) in his two overs put the Aussies in trouble at 132-5. Maxwell hit back to unsettle the bowlers in his brief stay at the wicket but finally mistimed a shot to get caught at cover off Karunaratne. He made 30 off 25 balls. Wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey was run out for 15 as wheels came off the Australian chase.
Speaing during the post-match media talk, player of the match Chamika Karunaratne said: “After a long time, I was waiting for this moment. I know I can do well and it’s come today and I’m so happy about it. Everything is planning...I’m always thinking out of the box. I’m always challenging batsmen. I always like to take a risk.”
Australian captain Aaron Finch said: “The fielding, we were very poor. Guys getting starts and not going on, similar to the last game. It was very poor [in the field]… we could have attacked the ball more. Chasing in these conditions is something we need to keep improving on. Tonight showed we were off the pace a bit.”
Scores in brief
SRI LANKA 220 for 9 (Mendis 36, de Silva 34, Shanaka 34, Cummins 4-35) beat AUSTRALIA 189 (Karunaratne 3-47).
