Half centuries to Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith helped Australia chase down 282 in a rain-affected clash as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series
Match Report:
ScorecardMaxwell guides Aussies home with scintillating 80no
Glenn Maxwell's finishing brilliance took Australia to a tense two-wicket victory in their one-day international series opener against Sri Lanka in Kandy, which was soured by an injury to Ashton Agar.
Chasing a revised target of 282 from 44 overs after a hefty night-time squall passed through the Pallekele Stadium, the Aussies got home thanks to Maxwell's devastating 80 off 51 balls featuring six sixes.
Aaron Finch (44 off 41) and Steve Smith (53 off 60) made contributions either side of the 90-minute rain delay before Marcus Stoinis blazed a 31-ball 44, but Wanindu Hasaranga's (37 off 19 and 4-58) supreme all-round performance kept the home side in the match.
When the hobbled Agar was out with 28 still required and only two wickets in hand, all Australia's hopes were squarely on Maxwell's shoulders.
The right-hander proceeded to slam 11 off the third-to-last over before sealing the win with consecutive sixes off Dushmantha Chameera to cap a stunning innings with nine balls to spare in the match.
Sri Lanka had earlier surged to 7-300 thanks to the diminutive Kusal Mendis (86no from 87 balls), who anchored the innings in the piercing afternoon sun following a brisk 115-run opening stand between Pathum Nissanka (56 off 68) and Danushka Gunathilaka (55 off 53).
Australia conceded 74 from the final eight overs as Hasaranga landed a handful of late blows, against Jhye Richardson in particular, as he carted 22 off the penultimate over which included five consecutive fours.
Sri Lanka had looked on track for an even bigger score, but their momentum was halted first by a laser run-out from Stoinis on the boundary and then a spectacular one-handed catch from David Warner, sparking a mid-innings collapse of 3-19.
Mendis responded with a slick hand and showed poise against the visitors' strong pace attack, continuing his impressive record against Australia at the venue having made a match-turning 176 in the first Test of Sri Lanka's series whitewash in 2016.
Agar went off with a side complaint after completing a tidy 10-over spell (yielding 2-49) and while the severity of the injury (the fifth suffered by the Aussies on this tour) was not yet clear, the 28-year-old appeared in discomfort when he batted.
Australia made a nightmare start to their chase when Warner (third-ball duck) was given out lbw to Maheesh Theekshanna's first ball and unsuccessfully reviewed.
Having weathered a series of blistering Chameera outswingers, Finch took charge on a glistening surface under lights before Hasaranga found his outside edge a ball before the rain interval.
After losing partner-in-crime Marnus Labuschagne, Smith too perished trying to keep pace with the recalculated rate as he handed a dream first wicket to debutant Dunith Wellalage (2-49).
The 19-year-old, the leading wicket taker at the U19 World Cup earlier this year and considered one of the island's brightest young prospects, celebrated with glee when he bowled Smith having been blatantly targeted by the Aussies in their chase.
Hasaranga, who had presented Wellalage with Sri Lanka ODI cap No.204 before play, had the crowd chanting his name during his double-wicket final over and proved a constant wicket-taking threat to the Aussies.
In front of a full house on the Buddhist lunar holiday of Poya, Gunathilaka and Nissanka batted with impunity through the game's first hour-and-a-half after their skipper Dasun Shanaka elected to bat first with Australia's bowlers hardly creating a chance during the first 20 overs.
The reverse sweep doesn't work! Agar gets his first wicket #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/Bz9oni7Jdu
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 14, 2022
But Stoinis' bullet throw from the long eastern boundary to catch Gunathilaka short of his ground and Warner's spectacular one-hander at mid-on off Dhananjaya de Silva brought the visitors back into the contest.
The openers had reached their fifties off consecutive deliveries (Nissanka off 61 balls, Gunathilaka 51) but were then dismissed within 12 deliveries of each other as the former followed the latter's run out when he top-edged a reverse sweep off Agar.
Labuschagne nearly made it a hat-trick of fielding blinders when he made up for putting down a tough running chance off Mendis (on 17) with an athletic boundary-line save and then drilling a throw to the keeper's end that struck the scampering batter near the stumps, prompting a rare obstructing the field review.
It was given not out, and it was unclear whether the Aussies had appealed for the dismissal.
Labuschagne returned with a pair of late wickets with his leg-spin, one to another athletic Warner grab, but the Australians would have been disappointed to have seen the Lankans' score tick over to 300, marking it a second straight shaky death effort after their last-over third T20I defeat on Saturday.
The two teams meet at the same venue on Thursday before the ODI series concludes with three matches in Colombo.
Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka, 2022
Sri Lanka T20 squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Nuwanidu Fernando, Lahiru Madushanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lakshan Sandakan. Standby: Jeffrey Vandersay, Niroshan Dickwella
Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade
June 7: Australia won by 10 wickets
June 8: Australia won by three wickets
June 11: Sri Lanka won by four wickets
Sri Lanka ODI squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Niroshan Dickwella, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Madushanka, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan
Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 14: Australia won by two wickets (DLS method)
June 16: Second ODI, Kandy, 7pm AEST
June 19: Third ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo, 7pm AEST
Sri Lanka Test squad (provisional): Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya De Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne, Ramesh Mendis, Mohamed Shiraz, Shiran Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lakshitha Rasanjana, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Suminda Lakshan
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST
July 8-12: Second Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST
All Sri Lanka v Australia international fixtures will be screened live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports
Australia A fixtures
Australia A squad: Scott Boland, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Todd Murphy, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Matt Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Mark Steketee
Sri Lanka A one-day squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Udara, Lasith Croospulle, Oshada Fernando, Pabasara Waduge, Kamindu Mendis, Ashen Bandara, Janitha Liyanage, Sahan Arachchi, Pulina Tharanga, Dunith Wellalage, Dananjaya Lakshan, Shiran Fernando (will not play due to injury), Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Nishan Madushka, Ashen Daniel,Nisala Tharaka
June 8: Australia A won by seven wickets
June 10: Sri Lanka A won by four wickets
June 14-17: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota
June 21-24: first-class tour match v Sri Lanka A, Hambantota