A late collapse saw Australia slump to a 26-run loss in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at Kandy, leaving the five-match series level at one-all.
On pitch that was difficult for batters on both sides, Sri Lanka made the best of the conditions before their bowlers piled pressure on Australia, culminating in the loss of five wickets for just 19 runs.
Sent into bat, Sri Lanka posted 9 for 220 before rain interrupted play and left Australia chasing a target of 216 off 43 overs.
Sri Lanka were without their most potent spinner, the injured Wanindu Hasalanga, but Australia’s top order’s vulnerability to spin was exposed as offspinner Dhananjaya de Silva rapped Aaron Finch on the back pad and then snuck one through the gate to dismiss David Warner.
Steve Smith didn’t succumb to spin, but a pull shot spooned straight to short fine leg was an uncharacteristic misjudgment, while Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne were both caught going after the left-arm spin of 19-year-old Dunith Wellalage.
But, when the fifth wicket fell in the 29th over, an Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell partnership based on measured sweep shots looked promising until Carey’s run out sparked the collapse.
Australia only needed around three runs an over when Carey punched a Chamika Karunaratne ball to midwicket and inexplicably pushed for a second run that was always going to be risky.
Karunaratne sprinted out of his follow thorough to field off his own bowling and fired the ball to Kusal Mendis, who whipped off bails, leaving Carey well short of his ground.
While the spinners had created most of the pressure, it was Sri Lanka’s seamers who made hay in the final overs, Karunaratne — who was named player of the match — and Dushmantha Chameera cleaning up the tail and delighting another enthusiastic Pallekele crowd.
A combination of injuries and spin-friendly conditions had led to several changes for Australia, as they drafted troops from the Australia A squad, which is also touring Sri Lanka.
Travis Head came in for the injured Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson replaced Jhye Richardson while Ashton Agar’s side injury — which has ruled him out for the rest of the ODI series and at least the first Test — gave an unexpected debut to left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.
It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Kuhnemann, who was about to board the Australia A team bus in Hambantota when he found out he was instead about to make his Australian debut.
The 25-year-old received his cap from Queensland teammate Marnus Labuschagne and slotted into an attack which featured just two seamers in Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
The debutante was immediately in the action, opening the bowling with Hazlewood and taking the first wicket of the match in his third over with a lovely flighted ball that turned away from Pathum Nassanka and drew a faint edge.
The Queenslander had a hand in the next wicket to fall, taking a fine catch at deep square leg off the bowling of Cummins to dismiss Danushka Gunathilaka, who was furious at himself for picking out the fielder while pulling a short ball.
That dismissal was something of a theme for Sri Lanka’s batters, who made starts but failed to convert them into big scores thanks to some questionable shot selections.
The pressure applied by Australia’s bowlers played its part and, while Cummins’ four-wicket haul was a standout, the spinners were economical and probing.
Glenn Maxwell bowled 10 overs and finished with figures of 2 for 35 while Swepson was more expensive, taking 1 for 58 off 10 overs.
Labuchagne chimed in with two overs, taking Australia to a tally of 32 overs of spin which equalled the highest number of balls bowled by Australian spinners in a men’s ODI.
It gave Australia a variety of spin options but, ultimately, batting against it was the more pressing issue and, with several players still out injured with no set return date, Aaron Finch’s squad will head to Colombo with a few questions to consider.
