Victory was made possible by aggressive batting, as promised by captain Angelo Mathews. The personnel who did that were Kusal Mendis (89) and Danushka Gunathilaka (76), who wasn’t even in the squad until an injury to Chamara Kapugedera on the eve of the game.

But it all changed quickly when when Gunathilaka pulled Umesh into the stands at the beginning of the eighth, signalling a shift in fortunes. Gunathilaka took charge with some glorious drives, particularly down the ground, while Mendis too started confidently, shifting the pressure on to India gradually.

But a good beginning is not even a job half done, as Sri Lanka found out the hard way against South Africa. The middle-overs batting was the most crucial phase of the chase, and how Sri Lanka handled Ravindra Jadeja was in particular important, given that it had crumbled against ’s leg-spin.

Mendis took that task upon himself and dismantled the left-arm spinner’s threat with smart batting. With only four fielders allowed inside the ring, Mendis targeted the mid-wicket boundary to perfection, getting past fifty with one such massive swipe into the crowd.

Jadeja conceded 36 from four overs, the partnership crossed 150, and India’s shoulders began to drop. It didn’t help that Rohit Sharma could not hold on to a very tough chance in the deep when Gunathilaka was on 70.

India’s desperation was evident when Kedhar Jadhav and Virat Kohli came on to bowl, but the breakthroughs came via run outs.

Australia’s first aim on Wednesday (February 22) would be to salvage some pride, having already conceded the series with last-ball losses in both earlier games.

Aaron Finch, Australia’s captain for the series, didn’t mince words when he said after losing the first match that his country had underperformed in the format ‘since forever’.

In the absence of several big names including Steve Smith, the regular captain, David Warner and Mitchell Starc, the batsmen of Big Bash League fame have done a fairly good job. Michael Klinger has been steady at the top while Travis Head, Ben Dunk and Moises Henriques have quick runs against their name.

The inexperience, though, is telling in the bowling department as Australia has allowed Sri Lanka to twice chase down competitive totals despite having it in bother at various points. The likes of Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake have not stepped up, giving the opponent an opening it has barged through. It has also left too much to do for the likes of James Faulkner and Pat Cummins.

Credit, however, should also go to the visitor. Sri Lanka came into the series having been whitewashed 5-0 by South Africa in the one-dayers, but was still high on confidence as it had won the preceding T20I series 2-1.

Sri Lanka now seems to have identified a brand of cricket that’s working wonders for it in the shortest format. What’s most refreshing about its turnaround is the freedom with which its batsmen have operated; irrespective of the situation, Sri Lanka’s batting mantra seems to be attack.

The onslaught in both games has been led by Asela Gunaratne, the latest hero. The right-hand middle-order batsman has twice helped Sri Lanka to victories in tough chases with half-centuries. The second game in particular was an absolute heist, as he helped his side hunt down 174 from 40 for 5 with a stunning, unbeaten 46-ball 84. Now with a maiden Indian Premier League contract in hand, Gunaratne will once look to re-establish his capabilities.

But Sri Lanka hasn’t been a one-man team as Dilshan Munaweera and Chamara Kapugedera have made vital contributions with the bat. It will, however, miss Niroshan Dickwella at the top, the wicketkeeper-batsman having been suspended on Tuesday for two limited-overs matches after showing dissent at the umpire’s decision in the previous game which pushed his cumulative demerit points beyond the minimum four.

The bowling too has been bolstered by Lasith Malinga’s return. Despite not playing for a year, Malinga has showed no signs of rustiness, sending down his famed yorkers with precision. Nuwan Kulasekara too will be on a high, having picked up four wickets in the second T20I.

Australia swept Sri Lanka 2-0 when they faced off in the T20Is in the island nation last year. On Wednesday, Sri Lanka will have an opportunity to return the favour, and even go one better.

Teams (from):

Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Pat Cummins, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Michael Klinger, Tim Paine (wk), Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (capt), Vikum Sanjaya, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dilshan Munaweera, Sachith Pathirana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana.

MELBOURNE Friday: Chamara Kapugedera smashed a four off the last ball to give Sri Lanka a thrilling five-wicket victory over Australia in their first Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

The win kept Sri Lanka unbeaten in four T20 internationals in Australia and followed their 2-1 series win over South Africa last month.

The pulsating win was made possible by a dashing 52 off 37 balls by Asela Gunaratne, who was named man-of-the-match for his match-turning innings.

Gunaratne slammed seven fours to share in a decisive 60-run stand with Milinda Siriwardana to put the Sri Lankans just 18 runs short of victory with 17 balls remaining. It was a tense finish with skipper Aaron Finch making fielding changes before every ball to prevent Sri Lanka from getting home.

But it was Kapugedera who stood up to the pressure and slammed fast bowler Andrew Tye’s final delivery through the covers to the boundary rope for the winning hit.

The win put Sri Lanka one up in the series with two matches to play in Geelong on Sunday and Adelaide on Wednesday.

For a time it looked as though the Australians, playing without their leading stars, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all on tour in India, would hold off the fast-finishing Sri Lankans.

The home side posted a competitive total of 168 for six off their 20 overs with skipper Finch smashing two sixes and two fours in his topscoring 43 off 34 balls.

Finch shared in an opening stand of 76 with T20I debutant Michael Klinger.

Klinger, making his debut at the age of 36 after starring with the Perth Scorchers in the domestic Big Bash League, hammered 38 off 32 balls with four boundaries.

Lasith Malinga, who has played virtually no cricket for nearly a year due to injuries, was an influential figure taking two wickets in two balls and taking two catches.

Malinga claimed the wickets of Travis Head for 31 off 24 balls and debutant Ashton Turner for 18 off 13 balls, both caught by Seekkugge Prasanna at deep mid-wicket.

Malinga finished with two wickets for 29 off his four overs.

Paceman Pat Cummins struck with the last ball of his opening over getting skipper Upul Tharanga to edge to wicketkeeper Tim Paine for a duck in the first over of the Sri Lanka innings. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa claimed the big wicket of free-scoring opener Niroshan Dickwella for 30 off 25 balls.

Dickwella, who slammed four fours and a six, looked to flick Zampa over mid-wicket only to lob a leading edge to Klinger at short third man in the ninth over.

Dilshan Munaweera smashed a breezy 44 off 29 balls with six fours before he hit a short ball from Zampa to mid-wicket where Finch took a head-high catch. But Gunaratne took charge and his half-century turned the tide to set up the thrilling victory for the Sri Lankans.

The score: Sri Lanka 9-128 off 20 overs (De Silva 62, Zampa 3-16) defeated by Australia 6-130 off 17.5 overs (Maxwell 66) by four wickets with 13 balls to spare in the second T20 at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

The hero: If he hadn’t done so already, young leg-spinner Zampa has all but cemented his role as Australia’s go-to spinner in the limited-overs team. The Melbourne Stars leggie again delivered through the middle stages of the Sri Lankan innings, following a bright start from the home side’s top-order. Finishing with a new career-best in T20 internationals of 3-16 from his allotted four overs and leaking just the single boundary, Zampa applied the brakes as the hosts could only manage 4-31 from the moment he entered the attack for the seventh over through to the end of his spell seven overs later.

The record: Maxwell was at it again at the top of the order as he plundered the hapless Sri Lankan attack to once again silence the vocal home crowd packed in for the final match of the tour. When he sent another delivery sailing to the mid-off boundary, Maxwell brought up the equal-fastest T20 international half-century by an Australian from 18 balls. Maxwell reached the milestone in the same number of deliveries against Pakistan in the 2014 edition of the World T20, while opening partner David Warner also claims joint-ownership of the record with his effort against the West Indies back in 2010. While blistering by most standards, the duo still trails the overall record of Yuvraj Singh by a whopping six deliveries following his 12-ball blitz against England nine years ago.

The shot: Maxwell simply continued his exploits from the destruction in Kandy on Tuesday night, treating the attack with complete disdain as he toyed with the field through his audacious strokeplay and unwillingness to adhere to any existing cricket textbook. His reverse-sweeping was so good that it now barely elicits the same sense of wonder it once did, it’s now just firmly entrenched in the repertoire. Maxwell’s power-hitting still manages to amaze, however, as shown by the cleanest of hits in the fifth over of the chase. Having ditched the helmet, Maxwell resumed his one-way battle with Sachithra Senanayake. A gentle loft down the ground for four to begin the over was simply a taste of what was to come. The Sri Lankan opted for a friendly seam-up delivery that swung without venom outside off and Maxwell casually flayed it up and over the long-on boundary to offer some catching practice to the exuberant fans.
Play

The surprise: When the curtain was drawn on Maxwell’s show, most would have expected Khawaja or Head to stroll to the crease to continue the damage following their efforts in Tuesday’s world record total. The Australians surprised everyone when allrounder Moises Henriques emerged from the dugout, seemingly in an attempt to maintain a right-hand left-hand combination in the batting order. Henriques was soon on his way back to the pavilion, stumped off Sachith Pathirana for 1 to bring his tour tally to 19 runs from five innings at an average of 3.80, having danced down the wicket only to york himself. It didn’t deter the visitors from again opting to deploy another right-hander to join Warner, as Faulkner walked to the crease to steady the ship, only for things to become even more unstable.

The collapse: When Maxwell edged a Seekkuge Prasanna delivery on to his stumps for 66 off just 29 balls – earning himself a cheeky send-off from the leggie – it sparked a stunning collapse by the tourists with the loss of 4-6 in little more than two overs. But things could have been much worse following the run out of Faulkner to leave Australia at 4-99 in the 11th over. Khawaja walked to the crease and offered a return chance to Prasanna from his first delivery on a surface becoming increasingly tricky to overcome. The left-hander couldn’t make the most of his second chance with a 15-ball stay producing only six runs, while Matthew Wade fell a short time later for 14 via a miscued reverse sweep. Young gun Head ultimately sealed the deal with a heave over mid-wicket, helped over the line by Senanayake in the deep – Australia’s first boundary in more than 11 overs – and Warner’s men were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The ball: It didn’t secure him a wicket, but Zampa’s delivery prior to the dismissal of Chamara Kapugedera was just about leg-spin perfection. Slight drift into the pads of the batsman to lure him ever so slightly out of his crease was followed by sharp turn past the outside edge and into the awaiting gloves of Peter Nevill. The gloveman’s effort to whip off the bails was only just beaten by the extension of Kapugedera’s back foot as he was deemed not out by the third umpire.

The catch: Zampa got his man with his next – far less threatening – delivery when captain Warner took a superb diving catch at mid-wicket. But it wasn’t even the skipper’s best catch of the night following his earlier effort to send Kusal Perera on his way for 22. Faulkner extracted the leading edge from the left-hander and Warner immediately began sprinting from his post at mid-on to reel in the skied ball. Matthew Wade, sans gloves, heard the call from his skipper to avoid a nasty collision and take a front-row seat to the full-length dive from one of the two Australians to feature in each of the 10 international matches on this tour.

The observation: Australia’s impressive performances with the white Kookaburra at the back-end of a long tour were highlighted by a Finch blitz, George Bailey’s consistency, some Maxwell magic and Starc doing Starc things. However, it was arguably the return to form from allrounder Faulkner that would have most pleased the Australian brains trust. The Player of the Final in last year’s World Cup triumph entered the series under pressure to recapture the form that had made him one of the most valuable players in limited-overs cricket. With Mitch Marsh rested from the shorter formats and Maxwell omitted from the ODI squad, Faulkner embraced the responsibility of being the side’s No.1 allrounder as he collected 14 wickets in his seven appearances on tour, while conceding a miserly 4.74 runs an over. On the slow surfaces found at each of the venues, Faulkner’s variations – he considers himself a pace-bowling spinner in these conditions – came to the fore as he got back to his deceptive best with a vast array of cutters and deliveries out the back of the hand. A fit and firing Faulkner not only adds another weapon to an already powerful bowling line-up, but also gives the National Selection Panel yet another headache ahead of ODI series against South Africa, New Zealand (home and away), and Pakistan in the next five months.

The farewell: After 87 Tests, 330 ODIs, 80 T20Is and 17,671 international runs across all formats, Dilshan was unable to produce one last knock to remember when he edged Hastings to Warner in just the second over of the match to depart with a solitary run to his name from three balls faced. A pair of wickets late in the piece gave the hosts a glimmer of hope in pulling off the unlikeliest of victories, but it wasn’t to be. It was by no means a fairytale finish, but so few are when the player has such an illustrious record behind them. Dilshan’s retirement leaves a significant hole at the top of the order in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs side, but the timing of the 39-year-old’s decision allows the team to find and develop a long-term replacement ahead of the 2019 World Cup and the World T20 hosted by Australia the following year.

The wash-up: Australia now head home where they will reflect on a tour that offered plenty of optimism when it began, but ultimately failed to deliver the success they so desperately sought in this part of the world. Dominance in the shorter formats won’t distract the powers that be from the efforts in the Test arena, as they now search for answers ahead of the much-anticipated tour of India in February and March of next year. For now, the team’s immediate focus turns to the ODI tour of South Africa that will serve as a competitive tune-up ahead of the home Test series against the Proteas in November, more than it will a chance to extend their stranglehold on the No.1 ODI ranking.

The squads for the One-Day International and Twenty20 series were also picked.

Both Silva and Thirimanne have been struggling for form in the recent home Test series against West Indies and their places in the team will be taken by Kusal Mendis who has been promoted to be Dimuth Karunaratne’s new opening partner and, Udara Jayasundara who has been given the task of filling the vital number three slot.

Jayasundara, a 24-year-old left-hander from Ananda College who represents Ragama CC in the Premier league has scored 10 centuries in 56 first-class matches which include a highest score of 222.

Mendis, 20 made his Test debut in the West Indies series and scored 13 and 39 batting at number three.

“We have selected the squads solely on current form which has been the determining factor in the process,” said chairman of selectors Kapila Wijegunawardene.

“We have kept faith in the players who have shown form in the recent tour to New Zealand with the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team and picked Jayasundara and Kithuruwan Vithanage,” he said.

Wijegunawardene said that Kaushal Silva was dropped because the selection committee felt that “he wasn’t playing his natural game and his performances was not upto the expectations of the team”.

“We left Thirimanne out to give him time to sort out his form and regain his confidence,” he said.

In Silva’s case it was more than his failure to contribute the factor that weighed against him was his over cautiousness. He crossed the fifty mark only once in his last 11 innings.

Thirimanne on the other hand has not scored a Test hundred since March 2013 and gone through 28 innings scoring just two fifties. The left-hander however retains his place in the ODI squad.

In the absence of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara who are now retired and the exclusion of Kaushal Silva and Thirimanne the Sri Lankan batting line up will have a new look with the inclusion of players like Kusal Mendis, Udara Jayasundara, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Kusal Perera and Milinda Siriwardana with a heavy responsibility lying on the shoulder of skipper Angelo Mathews. The bowling unit has not undergone any major changes but for the inclusion of Jeffrey Vandersay. The 25-year-old leggie has been knocking on the door for recognition with some sterling performances for the Board President’s team and the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side in the past few months and richly deserves his selection. He has been included not only in the Test squad but also in the other two formats as well. “Jeffrey has performed well and we thought a wrist spinner would be of value to the side. His selection will depend on the conditions and pitches in New Zealand, but nevertheless we have picked him with a long term view,” said Wijegunawardene.

Hard hitting right-hander Chamara Kapugedera has been named in the ODI and T20 squads. In recent times Kapugedera has been picked to play only in the shortest format T20, but his inclusion for the ODI matches is an indication the selectors think he can still deliver in that format as well. He last played in an ODI in 2012.

Sri Lanka will play a series of two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is during their five-week tour that commences with a three-day warm-up game against a New Zealand Board President’s XI at Queenstown on December 3.

THE SQUADS

TESTS

Angelo Mathews (captain), Rangana Herath (vice-captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Udara Jayasundara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilruwan Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay.

ODIs

Angelo Mathews (captain), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Sachitra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Dhammika Prasad, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera, Chamara Kapugedera, Jeffrey Vandersay.

T20Is

Lasith Malinga (captain), Kusal Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Milinda Siriwardana, Chamara Kapugedera, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dushmantha Chameera, Thisara Perera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Sachitra Senanayake, Isuru Udana.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has invited 25 of Sri Lanka’s top cricketers for the BPL, but Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee has taken a decision not to grant them permission to participate as they want the players to be focussed on the upcoming tour of New Zealand starting next month.

The list of players invited includes those from the National, ‘A’ and T20 teams who will be involved in matches during the New Zealand tour.

Those invited are: Chamara Kapugedera, Dilshan Munaweera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Isuru Udana, Dilruwan Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dhammika Prasad, Milinda Siriwardana, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kosala Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kituruwan Vithanage, Niroshan Dickwella, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ashan Priyanjan, Sachith Pathirana, Sachitra Senanayake, Nuwan Kulasekara, Seekkuge Prasanna, Upul Tharanga, Jeevan Mendis.

“We have not approved the players contracted to us centrally and provincially because we have an important tour of New Zealand coming up and want them to be fully concentrated on it,” said Sri Lanka Cricket’s Head of Operations Carlton Bernadus.

“Recently Sri Lanka Cricket enhanced the fees for all the players participating in our domestic tournaments,” he pointed out.

Bernadus said the respective clubs were responsible for releasing cricketers who are outside the SLC contracts.