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Bailey, Finch star as Australia win series
- Updated: August 31, 2016
Australia 217 for 4 (Bailey 90*, Finch 55, Pathirana 3-37) beat Sri Lanka 212 (De Silva 76, Hastings 6-45) by 6 wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball details
Who needs a world-record ODI total? There was plenty of breathless action in Dambulla without one. Aaron Finch smashed the equal fastest ODI fifty by an Australian. John Hastings took six wickets. Angelo Mathews limped off with a calf injury while batting. Dhananjaya de Silva entertained with a breezy 76. And Sachith Pathirana was briefly unplayable, collecting three wickets in five balls early in Australia’s chase.
It all made George Bailey’s unbeaten 90 off 85 seem tame by comparison, although he initially joined the party by scoring his first 20 off five balls. But in the end Bailey’s cool head – not to mention Travis Head, too – ensured an Australian victory in the series. Chasing 213, Australia raced to their goal within 31 overs, the six-wicket win meaning they will head to Pallekele for the fifth and final match with an unassailable 3-1 lead.
The contrast between the two innings of this match was stunning. After 10 overs, Sri Lanka were 32 for 3. After 10 overs, Australia were 109 for 3. Same number of wickets, but they were about as neck-and-neck as an emu and a hummingbird. Sri Lanka laboured on and eked out 212 from their allotted overs – the final wicket fell from the last ball of the 50th over. Their total would have been good for a T20, and Finch batted like he thought it was one.
One of the most remarkable things about Australia’s innings was that it started with a maiden, as Thisara Perera tested David Warner. But next over Finch launched 17 runs off Amila Aponso, including four fours, and he added a further 18 off Thisara in the over after that, including one huge straight six. It led to the ridiculous situation of Australia having 35 for 0, and Finch having all 35 runs. Warner was still on 0 from six balls.
Warner got in on the action with a couple of boundaries of his own, but had no chance of keeping pace with Finch, who used the field restrictions to make a mockery of Sri Lanka’s attack. He got to 49 from 15 balls and thus had the perfect …
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