Sri Lanka held their nerve in a thriller that went down to the last ball to win the fourth ODI by four runs and secure their first ODI series win against Australia at home in 30 years.
Australia were cruising towards the target of 258, needing 70 runs off 88 balls and with six wickets in hand, when a flurry of wickets to spin left the lower order limping their way through the final ten overs.
But there was a late twist; Australia needed 19 runs off the last over and, with no front-line fast bowlers in the side, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka brought himself on to bowl.
Playing in just his third international, Matthew Kuhneman blasted 14 of the first five balls of the over, including three boundaries, and needed four off the final ball to snatch victory.
But Kuhnemann miscued a slower ball from the captain and Charith Asalanka, who had earlier set the match up with a brilliant century, completed the catch and sent the packed Khettarama into frenzied celebrations that reflected the significance of the win.
Such a dramatic finish seemed unlikely throughout much of Australia’s innings.
Despite losing Aaron Finch early, out lbw to Chamika Karunaratne for a duck, David Warner steered the chase with contributions from Mitchell Marsh (26), Marnus Labuschagne (14) and Alex Carey (19), although Sri Lanka’s spinners ensured a steady run of wickets.
When Warner was joined by Travis Head (27) , the pair formed a solid 58-run partnership that seemed to have broken the back of the chase, but Sri Lanka’s decision to back a spin-heavy attack paid off as they took three wickets in nine deliveries to expose Australia’s lower order.
Dhananjaya de Silva bowled Head through the gate with a straight ball and in his next over had Warner, on 99, stumped in every way, outfoxing the opener with a lovely ball that gripped and turned to beat the outside edge and Niroshan Dickwella whipped the bails of before Warner could recover his balance.
In between Dhananjaya’s two wickets Maheesh Theekshana also struck, claiming the prized wicket of Glenn Maxwell, Australia’s most assured and destructive batter throughout the series, for just one run.
Maxwell was rapped on the pads by a ball that looked to be sliding past leg stump and was not given out, but Theekshana insisted on the successful review and Shanaka obliged.
It wasn’t the only good call made by the captain, although his decision to bowl the final over with his medium pacers seemed questionable.
It was only Shanaka’s second over of the match and Australia still had Pat Cummins, who had marshalled the late over chase with a valuable 35 runs, in the middle with Kuhnemann. In the end it was Kuhnmann who almost got Australia home.
In stark contrast to Sri Lanka’s approach to selection of four frontline spinners, Australia had relied heavily on pace, with Kuhnemann, Maxwell and Labuschagne sharing 18 overs of spin.
It seemed the decision had paid off when early wickets left Sri Lanka reeling at 3 for 34 in the seventh over.
But Asalanka and Dhananjaya (60) piled on 101 runs for the fourth wicket and, after Dhananjaya was dismissed by a brilliant one-handed catch by Maxwell off the bowling of Marsh, Asalanka steered the innings with controlled aggression until he was caught in the deep off Cummins.
A late flurry by Wanindu Hasaranga (20) could have been worse for Australia, but the final wicket fell when Theekshana was run out by a direct hit from substitute fielder Mitchell Swepson on the last ball of the 49th over.
Hasaranga, wanting the strike for the final six balls, had sent Theekshana back and with Sri Lanka not batting out their full complement of overs, it had all the makings of a costly error.
It was excruciatingly close, but ultimately didn’t matter as Sri Lanka celebrated a series victory that, with a World Cup in India a little over a year away, leaves Australia with questions to ponder.
