Sri Lanka eventually had something to rejoice after defeating Australia by 5 wickets in the fifth and final T20I game between the sides at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. (More Cricket News)
Kusal Mendis' unbeaten 69 off 58 took the guests home despite Australia staying in the contest till the final over of the game. Sri Lanka chased down 155-run target to taste their first victory in their tour to Australia that included series of 5 T20I matches.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Their openers failed to make noticeable contribution as Aaron Finch and Ben McDermott were dismissed early on scores of 8 and 3 runs, respectively.
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Josh Inglis (23 off 20) and Glenn Maxwell (29 off 21) revived Australia’s innings to some extent before Matthew Wade’s unbeaten 43 off 27 balls, laced with two fours and as many sixes, powered the hosts to a respectable total of 154/6 at the end of 20 overs. Dushmantha Chameera was the standout bowler for Sri Lanka with figures of 2/30.
In pursuit of the total, opener Kusal Mendis held on end tight, however, the fall of wickets in regular intervals from the other end kept Australia in the game. While Mendis carried his bat to take the guests home, skipper Dasun Shanaka's 35 off 31 also helped the team's cause.
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The win in final T20I saw Sri Lanka avoiding the clean sweep as they lost the series 1-4 to Australia.
