by: Atif Amin
Pathum Nisanka’s maiden ODI hundred and well-paced innings from Kausal Medis helped Srilanka to chase down Australia’s 291 in the 3rd ODI at Colombo and take a 2-1 lead in the 5 match ODI series with 2 matches remaining.
Nissanka and Mendis added 170 for the second wicket before Mendis, who was barely able to walk, had to leave the crease having received treatment over the preceding overs. However, any concerns that Sri Lanka’s progress would be stalled were eased by Dhananjaya de Silva while Nissanka picked up his rate again after reaching three figures from 123 deliveries to finish with Sri Lanka men’s highest individual score against Australia.
Earlier after winning the toss and batting first Australia scored 291/6. Trevis Head top-scored for Australia with 70*. The Srilankan spinners were excellent and never let the Australian batsmen score freely. However, Australia managed to score 98 runs in the last ten overs to give themselves a fighting chance. Leg Spinner Jeffery Vandersay was the leading wicket-taker for Srilanka with 3 wickets for 49 runs.
Nisanka was named player of the match for his brilliant hundred.
Brief Match Score:
Australia 291/6 (Head 70, Finch 62, Vandersay 3-49)
Sri Lanka 292/4 (Nisanka 137, Medis 87)
Result: Sri Lanka win by 6 wickets and lead the series 2-1
