Add Category
LIVE: Australia will defend an imposing total of 291 runs in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, after Travis Head stormed home to finish with 70* off 65 balls.
Aaron Finch scored a gutsy 62 on a tricky Colombo pitch that delivered a gripping first-innings battle between batsmen and spinners. Alex Carey added 49 and Glenn Maxwell an explosive 33 off 18, but it was Head’s gritty and composed knock that tipped the balance of the contest.
Australia made Sri Lanka pay for four dropped catches, with Finch adding 24 runs after he was first dropped, Maxwell 31, and Carey 22, while Head could have been dismissed on four runs had Sri Lanka reviewed an LBW decision.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, David Warner (9) and Mitchell Marsh (10) both fell cheaply, before Finch battled hard to reach his 30th ODI half-century.
Having survived a very difficult dropped catch in the slips while on 38 runs, Finch’s luck ran out on 62 runs when spinner Jeffrey Vandersay conjured up another outside edge to first slip, with Dhananjaya de Silva taking a sensational catch.
It came just two overs after Vandersay had Marnus Labuschagne (29) stumped with a brilliant piece of bowling, leaving Australia in dire straits on 4/121 with two new batsmen in Head and Carey. But they stabilised the innings with a 72-run partnership before Carey was out LBW on 49.
Maxwell entered the fray and played with typical aggression and inventiveness to race to 33 off 18 before being caught at cover.
Having scored just 17 runs in his first 30 balls, Head then took charge at the death to blast his way to 70* off 65, including three sixes in a 21-run penultimate over.
MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs Sri Lanka, third ODI, live scoreboard
Follow all the action in our live blog below!
Watch Australia’s Tour of Sri Lanka. Every T20, ODI and Test Match Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
FIRST INNINGS REPORT:
Australia made three changes for the match, with an injured Steve Smith replaced by Mitch Marsh, who returned from an injury of his own. Cameron Green enters the team, as does Jhye Richardson, with Pat Cummins rested and Mitchell Swepson dropped. That means just three specialist bowlers for Australia in a line-up heavy on batters and all-rounders.
Having won the toss and opting to bowl first in the first two matches of the five-match series, Aaron Finch once again won the toss, before opting for a different strategy on a slow and dry Colombo pitch on a scorching hot day.
But it soon backfired as his fellow opener David Warner was dismissed in the third over for just 9 off 12 balls, top-edging an excellent bouncer from Dushmantha Chameera. Warner had tried to pull it to square leg, but only found Maheesh Theekshana at fine leg, leaving Australia 1/14.
Australia appeared to be settling into the innings as Finch and returning bat Mitchell Marsh built steadily, before Marsh failed to read a slower ball that was tossed up beautifully by 19-year-old talent Dunith Wellalage. Marsh tried to drive on the up and spooned it straight to Kusal Mendis at cover, departing for 10 off 23 to leave Australia 2/47.
The Australian batsmen were all struggling to read the pace of the pitch, with Sri Lanka’s spinners regularly beating the bat and forcing false shots. Captain Aaron Finch was by far the most comfortable of the top order, though he was not immune to the mishits and mistimed shots that burned his colleagues.
He was dropped in the slips in a sharp chance off spinner Jeffrey Vandersay while on 38 runs, and he soon responded by smashing a deep six - the first boundary in 40 balls - before bringing up his half-century soon afterwards. It was his third against Sri Lanka and 30th in ODI cricket.
Vandersay had nearly nabbed Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket early in his innings with a beautiful piece of bowling, and finally got his man with a delightful dipping leg spinner that beat Labuschagne and sent him almost sprawling to the ground as Dickwella whipped off the bails and stumped the batsman on 29 off 36.
And in his next over Vandersay made it a double, as Finch tried to flick a slower ball off his hips - but only outside-edged it to a diving Dhananjaya de Silva in the slips.
Travis Head was given a lifeline on four runs when Maheesh Theekshana rapped him on the pads and Sri Lanka appealed strongly for LBW. But it was given not out due to the appearance of an inside edge, and Sri Lanka opted not to review. But a replay showed the ball hit the pads before the bat, and should have been given out.
Head and Carey rotated the strike well without scoring boundaries (for 50 balls in a row at one time), rebuilding the innings patiently with a 72-run partnership - and setting the scene for Australia’s strike finisher in Glenn Maxwell to explode.
On 27 runs, Carey smashed a cut shot in the air towards cover, where Shanaka soared brilliantly but couldn’t hold onto what would have been a remarkable one-handed catch.
He began to fire, reaching 49 off 52 runs, before being cruelly denied a half-century when he was out LBW trying to lap sweep Dhananjaya de Silva. Carey unsuccessfully reviewed the decision, with ball tracking finding that the ball would have hit half-way up leg stump.
His departure left Australia 5-193 after 40 overs, and it could have got worse soon after as Maxwell was dropped on his second ball off Wellalage.
Maxwell mistimed the ball and lofted it over Dhananjaya de Silva, who sprinted backwards from cover and dived well, getting two hands on the ball before losing it as he hit the deck.
He raced to 33 off 18 before falling to Sri Lanka’s fielding trap, trying to whack a ball well outside the off stump through to his on side and being caught finely in the deep by Wellalage off Vandersay’s bowling. That left Australia 6/233 with five and a half overs remaining.
Head brought up his 50 in the penultimate over by launching the ball over long on for a six. It was his 12th ODI half-century and his first against Sri Lanka, and he added two more sixes in that 21-run 49th over as Australia finished with a flourish.
He finished on 70* off 65, Australia having put on 98 runs in their final 10 overs thanks to a 58-run partnership between Head and Cameron Green.
Green finished unbeaten on 15 off 12, after being dropped by Asalanka at long off after mistiming a slower ball.
Vandersay was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3/49 off his 10 overs; Maheesh Theekshana an efficient 0/37 off his 10 overs - and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket.
Youngster Dunith Wellalage finished with 1/56, though 21 of those runs came on the penultimate over of the innings - with Sri Lanka punished for a disastrous decision to throw the left-armer against his left-handed rival in Head.
TEAM NEWS
Australia made three changes for the match, with an injured Steve Smith replaced by Mitch Marsh, who returned from an injury of his own. Cameron Green enters the team, as does Jhye Richardson, with Pat Cummins rested and Mitchell Swepson dropped. That means just three specialist bowlers for Australia in a line-up heavy on batters and all-rounders.
Australia’s XI which has already delt with injuries to Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Ashton Agar, Mitch Marsh and Sean Abbott this series.
Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann will retain his spot in Australia’s XI after taking two wickets in his ODI debut.
For Sri Lanka, Niroshan Dickwella replaces superstar Danushka Gunathilaka (groin injury) at the top of the order.
Australia won the first ODI by two wickets with nine balls remaining, before Sri Lanka bounced back in the second ODI, winning by 26 runs under the Duckwork-Lewis method.
SECOND ODI: Debutant has day to remember but Aussie run chase falls flat in rain-ravaged contest
HOW TO WATCH
Watch Australia’s third ODI against Sri Lanka live and on-demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
TEAMS
Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (capt), Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
LIVE BLOG