Sri Lanka 4-161 (Mahela Jayawardene 61*, Thisara Perera 35*, Glenn Maxwell 1-23) beat Australia (Shaun Marsh 47*, George Bailey 45, Nuwan Kulasekara 1-18) by two runs.
A nerve breaking second T20 between Sri Lanka and Australia ended in a two runs win for the visitors (D/L method) and that too on the last ball of the match.
The Lankan Lions smashed 161 runs for the loss of just four wickets in the allocated 20 overs . The Kangaroos fell short of just two runs to win the match in 15 overs from the revised target of 122 (D/L method) with seven wickets still in hand.
Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka) was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for his all round performance in the game.
The second and final Twenty20 of the series was played on Monday, January 28, 2013, at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Australian captain, George Bailey, won the toss and offered the batting to the Lankan Lions who lost their prominent opener, Tillakaratne Dilshan, for just six runs at 15 in 2.5 overs. Dinesh Cahndimal got together with Kushal Perera who hit 3 fours in the fourth over. Chandimal became the next victim for five runs at the total of 33 after 5.3 overs. Mahela Jayawardene walked in next but Perera lost his wicket in the next over for 15. The visitors were three wickets down for 39 as Jeevan Mendis took guards next and kept on enhancing the score with Jayawardene.
The pair was scoring at a reasonable rate supported by the boundaries regularly as Jayawardene hit a couple of sixes and Mendis got few fours. The fourth wicket partnership was broken at 102 in 15.2 overs when Jeevan Mendis was caught by James Faulkner at long off on the bowling of Xavier Doherty for 25. Thisara Perera replaced Mendis and scored 29 runs from 13 balls he faced with 1 six and 3 fours. Jayawardene dispatched three back to back four in the 20th over as Perera hit another six on the fifth ball. The Islanders rushed to 161 with six wickets in hand at the end of the last over. Mahela Jaywardene was unbeaten for 61 off 45 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours and Thisara Perera held his end by scoring 35 from just 15 with 2 big sixes and 3 fours.
Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Ben Laughlin and Xavier Doherty were the successful bowlers with one wicket each.
The Kangaroos did not have a great start either as they lost their attacking opener, David Warner, for just seven runs at 10 in the second over. Shaun Marsh associated with Aaron Finch as the first was dropped at two runs by Dilshan at backward point off Nuwan Kulasekara in the fourth over. Finch was declared leg before wicket off Ajantha Mendis for seven as the home side lost their second wicket at 20 after 4.1 overs.
George Bailey appeared in the park next as Marsh added 10 runs in the seventh over with 1 six and 1 four. Bailey kept on crawling from his end and they reached 2-60 in 10 overs when the play was stopped due to rain interruption. Australia was given a revised target of 122 to win the match in 15 overs and they needed another 62 runs in the next five overs once the match started again. The duo added 12 runs in the 11th over with a six from Marsh and they accumulated 16 runs in the 14th over with 3 fours.
The Kangaroos still required 18 runs to clinch the game from the last six balls as George Bailey was caught by Kushal Perera at deep midwicket off Thisara Perera for 45 from 36 deliveries comprising 4 fours. Glen Maxwell came in next under the demanding situation and hit two consecutive fours on the fourth and fifth balls but managed just one run on the final delivery. The hosts scored 119 runs for the loss of three mere wickets at the end of the 15th over. Shaun Marsh secured his end for 47 off 40 with 2 smart sixes and even fours and Glenn Maxwell scored eight runs.
Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis and Thisara Perera left some impression in the bowling and shared one wicket each.
Sri Lanka won the second and final Twenty20 by a narrow margin of two runs (Duckworth/Lewis method) and grabbed the series 2-0.
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