Aponso leads Aussie rout, as SL level series

By Madushka Balasuriya

Fifties by Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera, and a four-wicket haul by Amila Aponso saw Sri Lanka beat Australia by 82 runs in the second ODI at the R. Premadasa Stadium, and level the 5-match series 1-1.

Two century stands, involving both the Kusal’s - Mendis and Perera - helped Sri Lanka set a target of 289 for the visitors, despite losing their last 5 wickets for just 27 runs. The target, which would have been the highest ever successful run chase at Khettarama, was always going to prove tough for the Australians on a dry, turning track. But their chase was made even harder by the early dismissal of David Warner, who nicked one to the keeper off Thisara Perera off the first ball of the second over. Perera wasn’t done there though, picking up Warner’s opening partner Aaron Finch the very next over, as Finch chopped one on to the stumps. 

Perera would return later in the innings to break up a threatening 64-run 6th wicket stand between Mathew Wade and Travis Head, but in between it was Sri Lanka’s spin squad of Aponso, Dilruwan Perera, Seekuge Prasanna, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Dhananjaya De Silva that would build up the pressure to ensure that the Australians were never really in the chase.

Aponso was the chief beneficiary of the squeeze tactics, picking up the wickets of both Steve Smith and George Bailey as each was trying to let loose after periods of consolidation. His remaining two wickets came at the tail end of the innings, after the match had already been won, but that’s not to take away from an economical and mature performance which saw the spinner give away only 18 runs in his 9.2 overs.

Earlier in the match, Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal, the firefighters from the first ODI, were called into action early once again, coming together in the fourth over of the innings after both Sri Lankan openers were dismissed in the space of two deliveries. Danushka Gunathilaka was the first to go. Having replaced Kusal Perera at the top of the order for the second ODI he suffered the same fate as his compatriot; Mitchell Starc rattling his stumps with a delivery that snuck between bat and pad. Tillekeratne Dilshan’s stumps were disturbed a delivery later, this one the first ball of a Nathan Lyon over, as he was bowled around his legs.

Eager not to let the innings devolve into a full blown collapse, Mendis and Chandimal nudged and prodded their way through the next few overs, but were given the perfect chance to effect a counter-attack when Steve Smith brought on part-time off spinner Travis Head to bowl the final over of the first power play. With Australia playing just the four specialist bowlers, Smith would have been looking at the likes of Head, Aaron Finch and Moises Henriques to fill up that fifth bowler spot, so it was no surprise that the Australian captain decided to use the least experienced of the bunch - Head has taken 14 wickets at an average of 68 in 45 first class matches - at a time when he felt the Sri Lankan batsmen may not be looking to take too many risks. Mendis, however, had other ideas, as he singlehandedly took 20 runs off Head’s over, inclusive of four boundaries - 3 crisply in the front of the wicket, 1 square on the leg side - and was only deprived a fifth by a fine piece of fielding at deep cover.

With the shackles loosened, the duo proceeded to tick the scoreboard over with ones and twos even though the big shots were in short supply. Mendis continued his impressive start to an international career that his seen him reach fifty-plus scores five times in just nine ODIs, the highlight of which was a sumptuous lofted straight drive over Moises Henriques.

Chandimal too was on the verge of making history by becoming the first Sri Lankan to score fifties in six consecutive matches but he eventually fell two short of the milestone, courtesy an outstanding review by the Australians. Having come down the track to an Adam Zampa straighter one, Chandimal played all around the delivery with the ball seemingly missing everything on its way to keeper Mathew Wade, who failed to collect. Wade however was convinced the ball had struck Chandimal on the pad and insisted upon a review. Smith obliged and the replays vindicated Wade, showing the ball flick up off Chandimal’s back pad. With the impact in line and hawk-eye projecting the ball clattering into leg stump, Chandimal had to walk back in disbelief.

Having put on 103 with Chandimal, Mendis soon followed his partner back to the pavilion as Zampa struck again an over later foxing Mendis with a googly that caught him plumb in front of the stumps. Zampa’s wicket-taking streak continued a few overs later when he had Dhananjaya De Silva caught at cover, and Sri Lanka were suddenly on the ropes having slumped from 137/2 to 158/5. A repeat of the first ODI seemed to be on the cards, where a middle order collapse put to waste the efforts of Mendis and Chandimal, but this time around Mathews and Perera were on hand to capitalise.

Smartly knocking the ball around initially, the duo steadied the innings taking the score towards the 200 mark while still keeping the run rate a notch above five an over. Mathews then abruptly unleashed, bookending a Nathan Lyon over with two mammoth strikes over wide long-on for six. That set the tempo and Perera looked to join in, flicking one gloriously on the leg side off Faulkner, but a mistimed pull off Moises Henriques saw him top-edge an absolute sitter to Adam Zampa at short third man, who proceeded to inexplicably let the ball slip through his hands. Hero to zero at the drop of a ball for Zampa, but Perera was sure to make the reprieve count scoring 25 more runs off his next 19 deliveries including a monstrous leg-side flick/lift off Mitchell Starc for six, which brought back memories of Sanath Jayasuriya in his pomp.

Perera was eventually trapped LBW attempting a reverse sweep, as he missed a slower one off the final delivery of a James Faulkner over. Faulkner picked up Mathews off the first ball of his next over, as the Sri Lankan captain holed out at long-off. The very next delivery Faulkner completed his hat-trick cleaning up Thisara Perera. Mitchell Starc rattled Dilruwan Perera’s and Amila Aponso’s stumps the next over and Sri Lanka’s innings was ended prematurely in the 49th, but with 288 on the board they already had much too many.