Sri Lanka square series despite Faulkner’s hat-trick

Published August 25, 2016
Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal congratulates Angelo Mathews for the dismissal of Australia's Travis Head during their second ODI in Colombo. — AP
Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal congratulates Angelo Mathews for the dismissal of Australia's Travis Head during their second ODI in Colombo. — AP

COLOMBO: Australia’s James Faulkner claimed his maiden hat-trick but could not deny Sri Lanka a series-levelling 82-run victory in the second One-day International on Wednesday.

Faulkner dismissed Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera to achieve the feat but ended up on the losing side as Australia, chasing 289 for win, were all out for 206 in 47.2 overs at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Matthew Wade top-scored for the touring side with a fighting 76 but Sri Lanka’s biggest win over Australia in terms of runs means the teams move to Dambulla for Sunday’s third one-dayer with the five-match series level at 1-1.

Australia needed a strong start to chase down such a big total but Thisara Perera (3-33) dismissed openers David Warner and Aaron Finch to reduce the tourists to 16 for two.

Skipper Steve Smith (30) rekindled Australia’s hopes of a fightback and Wade showed tremendous grit down the order but it was not enough to complete what would have been a record chase at the ground.

Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowler, claiming 4-18 in his second One-day International, while Thisara Perera (3-33) and man-of-the-match Mathews (2-17) also bowled well.

Sri Lanka posted 288 before being all out in the 49th over, losing their last five wickets for 27 runs.

After opting to bat, Sri Lanka lost openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Tillaka­ratne Dilshan off successive deliveries inside the first 19 balls.

Kusal Mendis (69) and Dinesh Chandimal (48) revi­ved the hosts with a 125-run stand.

Mendis cruised to his second successive fifty but Adam Zampa (3-42) dismissed both batsmen.

Kusal Perera (54) added 103 runs with skipper Mat­hews (57) to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position but Faulkner and Mitchell Starc (3-53) ripped out the lower order.

Faulkner trapped Perera lbw with the final delivery of his eighth over.

The all-rounder dismissed Mathews with the first ball of his next over, caught at long-off, and bowled Thisara Perera with his next to become the sixth Australian cricketer to claim a one-day hat-trick.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

M.D. Gunathilaka b Starc 2

T.M. Dilshan b Lyon 10

B.K.G. Mendis lbw b Zampa 69

L.D. Chandimal lbw b Zampa 48

A.D. Mathews c Henriques b Faulkner 57

D.M. de Silva c Smith b Zampa 7

M.D.K.J. Perera lbw b Faulkner 54

N.L.T.C. Perera b Faulkner 12

S. Prasanna not out 2

M.K.D. Perera b Starc 5

M.A. Aponso b Starc 2

EXTRAS (B-4 LB-7 W-9) 20

TOTAL (all out, 48.5 overs) 288

FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-12, 3-137, 4-146, 5-158, 6-261, 7-279, 8-279, 9-286.

BOWLING: Starc 9.5-0-53-3 (2w); Lyon 9-0-49-1 (2w); Faulkner 9-0-45-3 (1w); Head 4-0-41-0 (2w); Zampa 10-0-42-3 (1w); Finch 2-0-7-0; Henriques 5-0-40-0 (1w).

AUSTRALIA:

D.A. Warner c Chandimal b T. Perera 1

A.J. Finch b T. Perera 4

S.P.D. Smith c D. Perera b Aponso 30

G.J. Bailey b Aponso 27

M.S. Wade c Gunathilaka b T. Perera 76

M. Henriques c Chandimal b Prasanna 4

T.M. Head c Dilshan b Mathews 31

J.P. Faulkner lbw b Aponso 13

M.A. Starc c and b Mathews 0

A. Zampa c Dilshan b Aponso 5

N.M. Lyon not out 4

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-7) 11

TOTAL (all out, 47.2 overs) 206

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-16, 3-41, 4-102, 5-118, 6-182, 7-184, 8-185, 9-202.

BOWLING: Mathews 6-0-17-2; N.L.T.C. Perera 5-0-33-3; Aponso 9.2-0-18-4 (1w); Prasanna 8-1-48-1 (3w); M.D.K. Perera 10-0-43-0 (1w); Dilshan 5-0-23-0; Prasanna 4-0-20-0.

RESULT: Sri Lanka on by 82 runs to level five-match series 1-1.

UMPIRES: R.R. Wimalasiri (Sri Lanka) and M.A. Gough (England).

TV UMPIRE: Aleem Dar (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: J. Srinath (India).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Angelo Mathews.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2016

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