Australia’s T20I captain Aaron Finch heaped praise on his counterpart Dasun Shanaka after the Sri Lankan captain played a match-winning in the second T20I at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele. Shanaka scored an unbeaten knock of 54 runs off just 25 balls to help Sri Lanka chase down 177 with four wickets to spare.

Sri Lanka had their backs against the wall as they were tottering at 108-6 after 15.4 overs. They needed 69 runs off 26 balls at that stage but Shanaka was able to turn the tables with his blistering batting.

In fact, the Sri Lankan captain got off to a slow start as he trudged to six runs off his first 12 balls. However, he was able to change gears as he smashed 48 runs off the next 13 balls he faced. Shanaka had come to the crease when Sri Lanka was reeling at 98-5 but the hosts went on to score 59 runs in the last three overs.

Thus, Sri Lanka was able to win the final T20I but Australia took the series by 2-1.

“I’m happy with our performance throughout the series, it was just an unbelievable knock by Dasun tonight,” Finch said after the match. “We felt that the pitch slowed down a bit towards the end of our innings, so we didn’t think it made too much of a difference whether we batted first or second. In general, we’re quite comfortable with our side and our options.”

Shanaka was delighted with his performance and said the team will look to carry the same momentum in the upcoming ODI series against the Aussies.

​He was awarded the Player of the match as he said, “I took a few balls to get in. I read the wicket well, so I didn’t throw my wicket away. The process is always important. They took a brave decision to bat first, it wasn’t the best idea to bat first in these conditions. We should take this momentum in the ODI series moving forward.”

The first ODI between these two teams will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.