Australia continued their winning streak in Twenty20 Internationals against Sri Lanka as they won the fourth T20I in Melbourne by six wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
Follow Us
Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell’s aggressive knocks in a 71-run partnership have helped Australia over the line in the fourth T20I against Sri Lanka in Melbourne. Earlier, superb spells from Jhye Richardson and Ashton Agar helped Australia restrict Sri Lanka and the Australians got over the line by six wickets with an over to spare. The result is Australia’s eighth consecutive T20I win against Sri Lanka and they are currently up 4-0 in the five-match series.
Australia chose to bowl and once again, the inexperienced batting of the Sri Lanka side saw them lose wickets regularly. Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka were in fine form with a couple of fours at the beginning. But, when Ashton Agar came in the fifth over of the powerplay, he removed Gunathilaka cheaply. Kusal Mendis looked in fine touch for the first time in the tour, hammering Glenn Maxwell and Kane Richardson for a six each.
Read – Glenn Maxwell to Miss Pakistan Tour and Start of IPL for this ‘Happy’ Reason
But, Australia’s fielding went to a different level altogether. Glenn Maxwell ran out Kusal Mendis with a direct throw from the deep. Nissanka neared a fifty while Charith Asalanka hit two fours off Adam Zampa. But, Australia struck twice in quick succession. Asalanka was taken by Jhye Richardson while Zampa dismissed the dangerous Nissanka for 46 with Matthew Wade effecting a good stumping.
Both Jhye and Kane picked up two wickets apiece in the 18th and 19th over. One of them was a run-out with Matthew Wade putting in the dive for yet another good piece of fielding. But, Chamika Karunaratne hit two fours and a six in the 20th over as Sri Lanka ended on 139/8. Having been 73/1 at 10 overs, just scoring 66 runs in the last 10 overs was not enough for Sri Lanka.
Once again, Ashton Agar opened for Australia but they made a bad start again. Ben McDermott was sent back by Maheesh Theekshana. Lahiru Kumara sent back Aaron Finch but Agar was solid in the middle. When Kumara got him for 26, the asking rate had mounted to close to nine runs an over.
Inglis was the aggressor right from the go as he hit two boundaries off Jeffrey Vandersay. He targeted the same bowler for even more punishment when he hit a six in the 12th over. Inglis continued to find the gaps and was scoring at an aggressive rate when he was sent back by Dushmantha Chameera for 40 off 20 balls. Marcus Stoinis and Maxwell ensured there were no further hiccups and Australia won the match in grand style.
Speaking after the match, skipper Aaron Finch stated that Australia is building depth heading into the ICC World T20 in October 2022. “We need a strong 6 and 7 if we need to win the WC. We saw Wade did that for us against Pakistan in the WC and then against SA in the WC as well. Josh is hard to bowl to as he can hit you anywhere on the field. Maxi has been playing very well,” Finch said. The final T20I will be played on February 20 in Melbourne.
