Right then! What a fantastic day of cricket! Totally unexpected to see Australia losing their way so quickly but they are known to bounce back from this kind of situation. The T20I series went to the visitors' side while ODI series was grabbed by the hosts! The Test series turned out to be a fair one as it ended up in a draw. We are done and dusted with this long tour. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. The next assignment for Sri Lanka is against Pakistan who will be touring them in a week's time while Australia have a break before Zimbabwe visit them. There is non stop cricket happening, so keep an eye on the schedule list and do join us for the coverage. From here, it is goodbye and cheers!
Dimuth Karunaratne, the skipper of Sri Lanka says that in the first match they didn't do much. And like Cummins said that it was important to put pressure on the team by scoring big runs. He says that on this ground they just try to do the basic right and he is happy with the batting performance. And in the bowling department, they just improved their line and lengths which troubled the Aussies. He says that they are ready for the Pakistan series and they just want to do basic rights and winning this match will give them more confidence going into that series.
Pat Cummins, the Australian skipper. He says that they got in a position where 400 plus in the first innings was gettable but they could not reach that and they had a couple of chances but they could not take it. Tells that they can learn a lot from these games and unfortunately they learned from a loss here but he is pleased that everyone will take a lot from this game. Applauds Sri Lankan hospitality and says that they had a great time here right from the time they arrived on the Lankan shores.
Dinesh Chandimal, the Player of the Series. He says that he is over the moon and tells that he is extremely pleased as the wickets are a bit tricky at Galle. Adds that he wanted to be proactive and he says that the wicket was tough in the first game and when he saw the wicket for this game he thought that it will play good for three days and he looked to cash in on that. Mentions that he was thinking about getting a lead of over 100 and thanks his family for the support they have given him through the ups and downs
No second thought to guess who is the Player of the match, it is the debutant Prabath Jayasuriya. He ended with 12 wickets overall. Prabath Jayasuriya says that he is very happy with his performance as he has worked very hard to achieve this feat. Tells that he was prepared and he played some A-team games and he is extremely pleased.
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While there was a batting collapse by Australia. Sri Lanka showed determination in their skills as five batters scored fifty plus scores with Dinesh Chandimal scoring a magnificent double ton. At the end of Day 3, Sri Lanka had a lead of 67 runs and it was expected that Australia will come hard and take the wickets quickly but Dinesh Chandimal was resilient as he scored a double ton and the lead glued to 190. Australia could have done much better but the Lankan bowlers were too good for them in this match. Australia scored 364 runs in the first innings with centuries from Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith. They dominated the match in the start but once Sri Lankan batters stepped out, there was no coming back for the visitors.
If there was one man Sri Lanka need to be thankful for it was Prabath Jayasuriya, he was the architect of the Aussie's downfall. Six wickets in the first innings and six in the second! And that too on his debut! Unbelievable! Credit goes to Dinesh Chandimal as well. He stood there and scored a double ton to get a cushion lead but it was a really poor batting performance from the visitors. 9 wickets fell in the final session for them. David Warner and Usman Khawaja were off to a good start but once Warner fell, the doors opened for the hosts. The wickets fell one after the other and no one stood there for a long time. Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green tried to repair things as well but failed in the process. No one survived and the Aussies were bundled out for a mere 151.
A remarkable performance from the Lankans! A famous victory for the hosts! What an incredible match this was! We all thought that the final day could prove to be the decider but Sri Lanka had other plans! They bundled out Australia for 151 and won by an innings and 39 runs. First time they have done so against Australia in their history! The series ends in a draw! 1-1!
In over# 41
0W
0
0
0
0
1
Prabath Jayasuriya 59/6(16)
40.6
W
OUT! BOWLED! It's all over! Prabath Jayasuriya has his 12th wicket in the game and what a turnaround this has been from Sri Lanka! This is tossed up on middle and Mitchell Swepson tries to defend it off the back foot. However, Prabath Jayasuriya gets that turn again by which he has been troubling Aussies throughout this Test match. The ball beats the outside edge of Mitchell Swepson's blade and knocks over the off pole. Sri Lanka win by an innings and 39 runs.
40.5
.
Floated outside off, Swepson pushes this to the offside.
40.4
.
Action replay of the previous delivery. Tossed up on middle, drifting away. Swepson tries to defends but is beaten all ends up.
40.3
.
Oh! That was close. Prabath Jayasuriya bowls it full around off, turning away sharply. Swepson goes for the drive but misses it completely.
40.2
.
Pulls back his lenght a bit on middle, Swepson blocks it out.
40.1
1
Flatter and full on middle, Carey sweeps it wide of fine leg for a run.
In over# 40
0W
1
1
4
0W
1
Maheesh Theekshana 28/2(5)
39.6
W
OUT! LBW! Maheesh Theekshana has another and Lyon who started off with a boundary playing a sweep shot, walks back trying to repeat the same shot again. This is fuller on middle. Lyon goes for a big sweep-shot but misses. The ball again turns slightly away and hits Lyon on his pads. An appeal is entertained again as the umpire raises his finger. He reviews it but the Ball Tracking shows three reds and Australia lose nine now. Just a wicket away Lanka from a famous victory here! Mitchell Swepson is the last man in.
39.5
1
A flatter delivery on middle. Carey works it towards the leg side for a single.