Dasun Shanaka helps Sri Lanka To A Thrilling 4-Wicket Win against Australia

Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the final T20I at Pallekelle by four wickets as the Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka played one of the best innings of his career, an unbeaten 54 off 25 deliveries. The Sri Lankan team came into the match with two defeats in a row and it looked like a third loss was on the cards when Shanaka came in to bat. But the Sri Lankan skipper quashed all the criticism with his mind-bending innings that allowed Sri Lanka to pull off a famous heist against the Aussies in front of a delirious crowd.

The Sri Lankan batters made a decent start to the chase before the dangerous Danushka Gunathilaka was sent back to the hut by Josh Hazlewood in the fourth over. Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka gave a good account of themselves in their 42-run partnership for the second wicket before both fell in the space of 15 deliveries.

Sri Lanka suffered a mini-collapse of their own as they lost three wickets for 12 runs, which derailed their chase. As all seemed lost, skipper Shanaka showed his ability to use the long handle as he launched a damaging assault on Hazlewood in the 18th over, which yielded 22 runs. The hard-hitting all-rounder saw his side home in a thrilling finale at the end.