Australia have survived an electric spell from allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga to edge Sri Lanka by three wickets and wrap up their three-match Twenty20 series.
Veteran wicketkeeper Matthew Wade (26*) handled the immense pressure of batting with the tail to secure victory with 13 balls to spare in Colombo on Wednesday night as the visitors took an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Chasing the hosts’ mediocre total of 9-124, openers Aaron Finch and David Warner came out intent on powering Australia to victory as quickly as possible.
Only a night earlier, the same pair blasted Australia to a 10-wicket win when they passed Sri Lanka’s score of 128 with six overs to spare.
But the Lions showed far more fight in the second match as Hasaranga weaved some magic with Australia collapsing to 7-99.
The legspinner took figures of 4-33, and almost secured a hat-trick after removing Glenn Maxwell and Ashton Agar in consecutive balls.
But Wade was able to steady the innings as he received solid support from fast bowler Jhye Richardson to help give Australia an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
With star quick Mitchell Starc sidelined for Wednesday’s match after suffering a finger injury, Maxwell was given the new ball and struck in the first over after Finch won the toss and elected to bowl.
The Lions stumbled to 2-7 before Charith Asalanka (39) and Kusal Mendis (36) steadied the innings with a 66-run stand.
But Maxwell ended the partnership in the 12th over with Asalanka skying a ball to Finch.
Mendis’ knock ended in bizarre fashion, departing after falling back into his stumps after being hit in the helmet by a delivery from Jhye Richardson.
The Western Australian paceman, who has played just two international games since he was dropped after taking five wickets in the second Ashes Test win last December, came into the team for Starc.
Richardson finished with career-best T20I figures of 3-26, while Josh Hazlewood (0-16) was treated with extreme caution by Sri Lanka’s batters after his player-of-the-match performance of 4-16 in game one.
Kane Richardson also had a career-best night with the ball, walking off the ground with figures of 4-30 after taking three wickets in the final over.
Saturday’s final match in Kandy will be a dead-rubber ahead of a five-match ODI series, starting on June 14.
-Agencies
