MELBOURNE: Aus­t­­ralia eased to a six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the fourth Twenty20 international in Melbourne on Friday, barely needing to shift out of first gear as they heaped misery on the tourists who have yet to register a win in the five-game series.

Chasing 140, the home side suffered some early jitters before the middle order steadied the ship, cruising to 143-4 with 11 balls to spare courtesy of a 20-ball 40 by Josh Inglis.

Bowling with clever variations of pace, Lahiru Kumara (2-22) took the wickets of unconvincing opener Ashton Agar (26 off 31 balls) and captain Aaron Finch (two), who increased his run of scores without a half-century to 12.

Inglis, who struck the only two sixes of the innings, partnered Glenn Maxwell (48 not out) at the crease with the side at 49-3 in the ninth over and the duo put on a carefree 71 runs together to put the result beyond doubt.

“It looked like [Inglis] was batting on a different wicket,” said Maxwell. “He was really calm out in the middle for just his fourth game of international cricket.”

After being sent in, opener Pathum Nissanka scored 46 from 40 balls for Sri Lanka. But once Nissanka departed in the 16th over, it started a collapse of 5-9 as Australia took control of the match.

Kane Richardson (2-44) and returning fast bowler Jhye Richardson (2-20) led the Australian bowlers.

Richardson came in for his first game for Australia since the second test of the Ashes against England in December, with fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood resting before the tour of Pakistan next month.

“There are a few positives, but again, not enough runs on the board,” said Sri Lanka captain Dusan Shanaka. “Hopefully we’ll come back better in the next game and pull out a win.”

The final match will be played in Melbourne on Sunday.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

P. Nissanka st Wade b Zampa 46

D. Gunathilaka c Finch b Agar 17

K. Mendis run out 27

C. Asalanka c Inglis b J. Richardson 22

D. Chandimal c Finch b K. Richardson 2

D. Shanaka c Agar b K. Richardson 1

C. Karunaratne not out 14

D. Chameera b J. Richardson 1

M. Theekshana run out 3

J. Vandersay not out 5

EXTRAS (W-1) 1

TOTAL (for eight wkts; 20 overs) 139

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-35 (Gunathilaka), 2-76 (Mendis), 3-110 (Asalanka), 4-113 (Nissanka), 5-116 (Chandimal), 6-117 (Shanaka), 7-119 (Chameera), 8-122 (Theekshana).

DID NOT BAT: L. Kumara

BOWLING: Sams 2-0-14-0, J. Richardson 4-0-20-2, K. Richardson 4-0-44-2, Maxwell 2-0-21-0, Agar 4-0-14-1, Zampa 4-0-26-1.

AUSTRALIA:

B. McDermott c&b Theekshana 9

A. Agar c Mendis b Kumara 26

A. Finch c Gunanthilaka b Kumara 2

G. Maxwell not out 48

J. Inglis c Chandimal b Chameera 40

M. Stoinis not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-7) 10

TOTAL (for four wkts; 18.1 overs) 143

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-19 (McDermott) 2-32 (Finch), 3-49 (Agar), 4-120 (Inglis).

DID NOT BAT: M. Wade, D. Sams, J. Richardson, K. Richardson, A. Zampa

BOWLING: Theekshana 4-0-20-1, Kumara 4-0-22-1, Karunaratne 2.1-0-22-0, Chameera 4-0-33-1, Vandersay 4-0-43-0.

RESULT: Australia won by six wickets

UMPIRES: Rod Tucker and Sam Nogajski (both Australia)

TV UMPIRE: Donovan Koch (Australia)

MATCH REFEREE: David Boon (Australia)

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2022