SL vs AUS | Mendis ton and ruthless spinners help Lanka execute perfect ODI template to clean sweep Oz

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first and sent Pathum Nissanka and Nishan Madushka, who replaced Avishka Fernando from the first ODI, out to open with swing on offer for the bowlers. Excellent opening spells from Ben Dwarshuis and Aaron Hardie allowed the duo to accumulate just 15 runs from the first five overs and the pressure eventually got to Nissanka as he charged down the track to Hardie only to have his stumps shattered. Nevertheless, a couple of quick boundaries from the bats of Madushka and Kusal Mendis helped settle Lankan nerves again before the latter capitalized on the introduction of spin with Matthew Short in the 10th over to have the powerplay score read 40/1. Steve Smith turned to spin-twins Adam Zampa and Tanveer Sangha thereafter to shackle the host batters and even though they went seven combined overs without a boundary, two fours in quick succession again got the team back on track. Maxwell replaced Sangha and the now in-zone Mendis thrashed him for two more fours, having meted the same treatment to Zampa an over earlier, to bring up a brilliant run-a-ball half-century. Madushka replicated the feat at the other end albeit in a much slower 65 balls, but could not build on it as Ben Dwarshius finally ended the century-run stand with a sharp bumper. Kamindu Mendis followed suit just a couple of overs later as Oz came roaring back into the contest at 121/3 after 27 overs. The scoring rate took a hit once again with just one boundary in the next nine overs but it was all one way traffic thereafter. Asalanka, reeling on 14 off 26, broke the barriers with a gorgeous maximum off Zampa before Mendis thrashed the apcers for three fours within 10 balls to leave the score well poised at 184/3 after 40 overs. The next 10 were worth a staggering 97 runs as Mendis brought up a 114-ball ton while Asalanka began dealing with boundaries to aggregate 51 in the final four overs, aided by two dropped catches, and helped set a formidable target of 282.

In response, Travis Head began with vengeance as he struck three stunning boundaries off Asitha Fernando in the very first over. However, the pacer fired back in style, restricting Matthew Short to four dot balls in his ensuing effort which culminated in the opener’s attempt at a sprawling pull sending him packing for cheap. Jake Fraser-McGurk was in next and declared his intentions with a boundary off the first boundary, only to succumb for single digits again courtesy of a well disguised slower one from Asitha. The right-arm quick made it three powerplay wickets in his fourth over when he got rid of the dangerous Head to leave the hosts reeling at 48/3 after 10. The onus thus fell on Steve Smith and Josh Inglis to save the sinking ship, a task they looked on course for as their partnership ticked close to 50 before things unravelled quicker than lightning. It all began with a Dunit Wellalage arm-ball bamboozling Inglis to sound him the death rattle, the wicket triggering a tragic collapse of seven wickets lost for just 18 runs. Two typical flighted legbreaks from Wanindu Hasaranga had Hardie edge out at slip for a duck and Smith trapped plumb LBW while a jaffa from Wellalage castled Glenn Maxwell in between to send all the specialist batters back to the pavilion. Hasarange added a third to his tally by sneaking one under Abbott’s bat during an attempted sweep and Wellalage wrappe dup proceedins by scalping both Dwarshuis and Zampa to claim four wickets in an innings for the third time in ODIs.

Sri Lanka demolish Australia!