Maxwell blitz ruins Dilshan's farewell despite late scare

Despite a spirited fightback by the Sri Lankan bowlers after a Glenn Maxwell special, the hosts could not provide a winning farewell to Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second and final Twenty20 International (T20I) at R. Premadasa stadium on Friday (September 9).

Dilshan, playing his final international game, could only manage a solitary run before Dhananjaya de Silva's determined knock of 62 helped Sri Lanka finish with 128 for 9, after being reduced to 86 for 7 at one stage. Australia rode on Maxwell's 29-ball 66 as they darted away in the chase before making it hard for themselves by losing a slew of wickets. When it appeared that normalcy was being restored to Australia's innings, Dilshan's last-ditch efforts with the ball gave the hosts hope. But the shell-shocked visitors managed to recover to seal a four-wicket victory and clinch the series 2-0.

David Warner and Maxwell continued from where they left off in the previous match, putting on another positive stand for the opening wicket as Australia raced away in the chase. Warner was living dangerously, surviving a leg before appeal by Sachithra Senanayake and then top-edging a Suranga Lakmal delivery which just evaded the keeper. However, that didn't deter him from flaying his blade, while Maxwell too lived up to his belligerent reputation. The Lankan spinners were carted around the park by the centurion of the first T20I as Australia were well past 50 by the end of the fifth over.

Thisara Perera wasn't spared either; confronted by Maxwell's blazing willow, the Sri Lankan all-rounder ended up being hit for a six and three fours off successive deliveries. Maxwell, who registered his second fifty-plus score in as many innings, took only 18 deliveries for his half-century to equal Warner's and his own record for the fastest T20I fifty by an Australian. The visitors, meanwhile, dashed towards the target, having managed 75 runs in the powerplay.

Sri Lanka tried to make a game of it when they struck thrice in the space of eight deliveries, seeing the back of Maxwell, Moises Henriques and Warner (25). While Maxwell got a bottom edge off Seekkuge Prasanna that crashed on to the stumps, Henriques couldn't make it back to the crease in time to give Pathirana his first wicket. The left-arm spinner struck again two deliveries later as Warner found Perera at deep backward square. What seemed like a canter turned into an interesting contest when James Faulkner was run out a short while later.

Australia's score of 99 for 4 could have well been 99 for 5 had Prasanna and Kusal Perera not put down tough chances offered by Usman Khawaja. A watchful partnership between Khawaja and Matthew Wade ensued as Australia got closer to the target. To make things more interesting, Dilshan trapped Khawaja in front in the 15th over and struck again in the 17th to send back Matthew Wade. However, Dilshan had to only be content with the fact that he picked up a wicket off his final ball in international cricket as he could not bowl another over with Travis Head helping Australia over the line.

Earlier, it wasn't a fairytale end to Dilshan's illustrious batting career as the opener departed early after Sri Lanka opted to bat. Looking to cut a wide delivery from John Hastings, Dilshan could only edge it to David Warner at first slip. Although he could manage only one run in his final outing, the crowd at the R. Premadasa made sure to give him a rousing farewell.

After the emotional moment, it was back to business as the young duo of Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva dealt in boundaries to power Sri Lanka forward. Mitchell Starc and Maxwell bore the brunt of the attack as the second-wicket pair were setting up a good platform. However, the partnership was cut short in the final over of the powerplay thanks to a brilliant effort from Warner. The skipper sprinted from mid off and put in a full-length dive to send back Perera for 22, giving Faulkner his first wicket. The left-arm seamer then held on to a catch off his own bowling after Dinesh Chandimal got a leading edge, leaving Sri Lanka three down. The hosts were in further trouble as Adam Zampa got a leg before decision in his favour although replays revealed that the ball that struck Kusal Mendis on the pads was pitched marginally outside the leg stump.

Just when a promising partnership started brewing between de Silva and Chamara Kapugedera, Warner's brilliance brought about another wicket for the visitors. Kapugedera, who failed to keep a pull down, saw Warner leap to his left at midwicket to hold on to a stunner, giving Zampa his second scalp. The legspinner was not finished yet as he sent back Perera two deliveries later when the left-hander top-edged a pull to Head at deep square leg. Zampa, who picked up three wickets for 16 runs off his four overs, registered his career-best figures in T20Is.

Even as de Silva waged a lone battle, he was running out of partners at the other end as Sachith Pathirana also fell cheaply, handing a simple return catch to Hastings. While the No. 3 batsman went on to bring up a hard-fought half-century to help Sri Lanka past 100, the hosts were in danger of being bowled out before using up their full quota of 20 overs. Prasanna, who was involved in a 28-run stand with de Silva, became the eighth to head back to the hut when he failed in his attempt to take on Faulkner. The left-arm seamer also finished with a three-wicket haul, while conceding only 19 runs off his four overs.

De Silva's outing finally came to an end when he got out to Starc in the last over, managing to send a full toss only as far as wide mid-off, where Faulkner took a good catch. The hosts ended up with two short of 130, and the fact that they could even come that far was because of de Silva, who stood tall amidst ruins to give the Sri Lankan bowlers a fighting chance. However, his efforts went in vain as Australia scaled the target with 2.1 overs to spare despite the scare in the latter half of their innings.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 128/9 in 20 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 62, Kusal Perera 22; Adam Zampa 3-16, James Faulkner 3-19) lost to Australia 130/6 in 17.5 overs (Glenn Maxwell 66, David Warner 25; Tillakaratne Dilshan 2-8, Sachith Pathirana 2-23) by four wickets.