Internet Desk: Angelo Mathews led from the front with an all-round display to help Sri Lanka register an 82-run win over Australia in the second One-Day International between the two sides on Wednesday at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The result helped Sri Lanka level the series at 1-1 after Australia had won the first game by three wickets.Australia, which was chasing a record 289 for victory, was bowled out for 206 in 47.2 overs with Matthew Wade top-scoring with 76 in 88 balls.
Amila Aponso, the left-arm spinner playing only his second match at this level, claimed four wickets while Thisara Perera took three wickets to choke the Australian run chase.
But it was Mathews’s two wickets and a half-century in the first half of the match that played the key role in Sri Lanka emerging triumphant.
James Faulkner, meanwhile, recorded a hat-trick but Sri Lanka, which chose to bat after winning the toss, still managed to post 288 in 48.5 overs. In reply, Australia was dealt early blows after losing its openers to Thisara.
George Bailey and Wade put together a 61-run fourth-wicket stand to keep Australia in the hunt but it was slow going as Bailey, who scored 27 off 46 balls, was struggling. He finally fell when Aponso, who returned 4 for 18, bowled him.
Wade then staged a fightback with support from Travis Head as the two scored 64 runs to keep Australia’s hopes alive. Wade’s knock was studded with three boundaries, and he looked good while he was out there, but then he became Thisara’s third victim and the Australian resistance wilted.
Earlier, Faulkner recorded his first hat-trick in ODIs, but Sri Lanka rode on half-centuries from Kusal Mendis, Mathews and Kusal Perera to put up a respectable score against a disciplined bowling attack.
But Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal added 125 for the third wicket to build a solid platform for Sri Lanka. Mendis, who followed up his 67 in the first ODI with a run-a-ball 69, hit nine boundaries and the pair put quick runs on the board before a triple strike by Adam Zampa checked Sri Lanka’s surge.
Mathews and Kusal Perera’s 103-run sixth-wicket stand entertained a raucous home crowd as they smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. Mathews, who recorded his 32nd ODI fifty in his 178th match, struck a four and two sixes during his 60-ball stay at the crease.
But Faulkner hit Sri Lanka hard after getting Kusal Perera, who hit five fours and a six, with the last delivery of his eighth over. He came back to dismiss Mathews and Thisara Perera to complete his hat-trick.
Starc (3-53) claimed two wickets in the final over to stop Sri Lanka from reaching the 300-run mark, with the last five wickets falling for 27 runs. Faulkner ended with 3 for 45, while Zampa had 3 for 42.