Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The second instalment of the Australia Sri Lanka T20 series was a tad odd. After being sent in to bat, Sri Lanka seemed to draw inspiration from the same poorly written script that underpinned the first game. Lots of balls dollying up in the air, often in immediate reach of some sticky Australian hands (yuck). Glenn Maxwell continued to produce his sneaky magic with the ball (I’m not sure how he gets wickets but he does) and it was pleasing to see Jhye Richardson back on the park, delivering some smart balls (mental note: develop a product called “Smart Balls”). As I watched the innings I found myself thinking, how could Junior (Mark Waugh) have his radar so out of whack with his prediction of Sri Lanka taking out the series. SL found themselves 9 for 124 at the end of their 20 overs. I mean it’s no wonder he’s referred to as Junior right?
Time for the Aussies to cream the cake (another yuck). Finch looked the best he has in a long while and played a range of confident strokes. It took Hasaranga and a leaping Gunathilaka to stop him in his tracks. Good signs for Finch though I feel. As it turns out though it was a poor omen for the Australian batsmen as Hasaranga had just pumped up the boombox and was ready to hit the dance floor. He busted a move with Mitch Marsh by trapping him LBW then went on to pop and lock (I don’t get out much so I assume people still do these things with their bodies) the wickets of Maxwell and Agar. Hasaranga is the real deal. Steve Smith looks ordinary at times in this format and this was one of those times. I’m not sure Smith is needed in the Australian T20 squad. Sacrilege I know, but I’d rather he focus his cricket addiction and mainline test cricket and at the least nothing shorter than 50 overs. Suddenly it was game on, with the Sri Lankans a real chance of taking the game away. Cue Matthew Wade, World Cup hero and all round nuggety power unit. Ably supported by Jhye Richardson, who is underrated with bat in hand, Wade thwarted Hasaranga and his dance posse at every step, guiding Australia home to take the game and the series.
The second half of the game was a coulda, shoulda, didn’t from Sri Lanka and a too easy, whoops, sorry and thank you Wadey from Australia. If SL can get their batting in order for the final game of the series on June 11 we may get to see the dance off we’ve been waiting for.
