Australia 3 for 145 (Warner 57*) beat Sri Lanka 6 for 142 (Perera 57) by seven wickets
Australia’s experienced campaigners led by David Warner, Aaron Finch, and Pat Cummins were once again clinical at home to beat Sri Lanka 3-0. They held Sri Lanka to a total of 6 for 142 before reaching the target with seven wickets and 14 balls to spare.
The only difference between Australia and Sri Lanka’s game plans was Australia’s power-hitting, placement and brilliant running in the post-power-play phase on the big expanses of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
After the power-play, Sri Lanka failed to score a boundary for 39 balls in their innings. On the other hand, Finch and Warner scored 42 runs in the first four overs.
David Warner scored yet another half-century to bag the player of the match and player of the series awards. Finch looked set to cut loose after reaching 37 off 25.
Lasith Malinga accounted for Ben McDermott by trapping him plumb in front of the wicket. But Ashton Turner powered the game with calculated hitting and phenomenal running to finish unbeaten on 22 off 15 balls.
Sri Lanka was a far better side today with the bat than they were in the first two games of the series, on the back of a fine half-century from
Kusal Perera followed by some strong late hitting from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Malinga to put Australia’s bowlers under more pressure than in the previous matches.
Sri Lankan batting display was very similar to the previous matches with just four boundaries in the power-play, of which two were through top edges. They tried their third different top four combinations for the tour. They scored 2 for 41 from their six overs.
Malinga promoted himself and smashed a short delivery over long-on to help push the total past 140 but it was well short of what was needed.
