Bailey steers chase as Australia goes 2-1 up
George Bailey’s 99-ball 70, and his fifth-wicket partnership of 81 runs with Matthew Wade (42 off 46 balls), stood out in Australia’s tricky chase of 227 in the third One-Day International against Sri Lanka at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Sunday (August 28). It overshadowed Tillakaratne Dilshan’s last ODI and Dinesh Chandimal’s century, as Australia’s thrilling two-wicket win with four overs to spare helped the visiting side take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
On a pitch where the ball stopped and turned, Sri Lanka bowled well to remove David Warner, the stand-in captain, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh in the first 8.5 overs. The home team had a good grip on the context, but Bailey used all his experience and guided Travis Head during their 62-run stand. Just when Head looked to have got himself in, Dilruwan Perera bowled him for 36.
Head, however, had set the base for the match-changing partnership that was to follow. The pair of Bailey and Wade played the sweep and reverse sweep to good effect as runs started to come at good pace.
The game turned once again when Wade was stumped off Dilruwan off the first ball of the 39th over. Australia needed another 44 runs at that point, and a wicket or two would have pegged the team back. Bailey and James Faulkner were then dismissed within a space of three runs, but by then Australia was only 21 runs away. A few handy blows from Mitchell Starc before he became the eighth wicket to fall with five runs required effectively settled the deal for Australia.
That Sri Lanka fought so hard and took the game till the 46th over was because of Angelo Mathews, Aponso and Dilruwan, all of whom picked up two wickets each.
Earlier in the day, Chandimal’s defiant 102 had carried Sri Lanka to 226 all out before he became the last man to be dismissed with the second ball of the 49th over.
Sri Lanka, looking to give the retiring Dilshan a winning farewell, suffered from wickets falling regularly after electing to bat first, and could not build partnerships to put up a big total.
Starc struck in his very first over to send back Danushka Gunathilaka, who was clean bowled for 5. Josh Hazlewood, who shared the new ball with Starc, soon got Kusal Mendis caught at second slip for 4 to put the home side in early trouble at 23 for 2.
Dilshan and Chandimal then put together a 73-run partnership for the third wicket to steady the Sri Lankan innings. The duo got runs at a brisk pace on what looked like a good batting pitch at a venue that was hosting its first day-night match in six years.
Dilshan, the 39-year-old who announced on Thursday that he was retiring from the format after the Dambulla ODI, scored a 65-ball 42 before falling to Zampa, the legspinner. Dilshan, who ended his career with 10,290 runs in 330 ODIs with 22 hundreds and 47 half-centuries, acknowledged the cheers of a raucous home crowd as he walked back to the pavilion.
Zampa, who returned with impressive figures of 3 for 38, got another wicket in his next over as he trapped Mathews, the Sri Lankan skipper, lbw for 2.
Chandimal, who has recorded five half-centuries and a ton in the last seven ODI innings, registered his fourth ODI century in his 117th match to keep the home side in the hunt after it was reduced to 178 for 8.
Chandimal found the perfect partner in Dilruwan, who made 17 off 21 balls, as the duo put together a crucial 39-run ninth wicket partnership to give the Sri Lankan total some heft.
While Zampa led the Australian bowling charge with three wickets, Starc, Faulkner and Hastings took two each.
The fourth match of the five-game series will be played at the same venue on August 31.
Please click here to review the match in full in the ICC Match Centre.
