Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne fashioned out a well deserving four-wicket win for Sri Lanka in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe as they chased down 388 in the fourth innings of Test on the fifth and final day at the R Premadasa Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka who resumed the final day at 170-3 and needing a further 218 to win finished on 391-6 with Gunaratne playing the role of sheet anchor despite being handicapped by a left hamstring injury (that prevented him from bowling in the Zimbabwe second innings) to remain not out on 80 scored off 151 balls with six fours.

Gunaratne figured in two crucial stands that took the game away from Zimbabwe after the visitors had reduced Sri Lanka to 203-5 within the first hour’s play by sending back the two overnight batsmen Kusal Mendis for 66 and former skipper Angelo Mathews for 25 – both falling to the leg-spin of Graeme Cremer.

At that stage Zimbabwe would have fancied their chances of running through the rest of the Lankan batting with Cremer getting the odd ball to spite and turn viciously whenever it hit the bowlers’ rough.

However Gunaratne joined Niroshan Dickwella in a partnership of match winning proportions adding 121 runs for the sixth wicket and after Dickwella’s departure for a well constructed 81 off 118 balls (6 fours), Dilruwan Perera (29 not out) made certain that Sri Lanka did not lose any more wickets by figuring in an unbroken stand of 67 with Gunaratne to seal the match in Sri Lanka’s favour.

It was the fifth highest successful run chase in Test history and the highest in Asia. In Sri Lanka it was the highest successful run chase after 377 by Pakistan at Pallekele in 2015 and 352 by Sri Lanka against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006.

It was not an easy chase by any standards although Sri Lanka was playing the lowest ranked Test team in the world. Zimbabwe had till the final day kept their options open of pulling off a maiden Test win against Sri Lanka having shown great resolve and fight to take the game right into the final day – something that Zimbabwe sides had not done in the recent past.

Zimbabwe could consider themselves somewhat unlucky when a stumping chance against Dickwella when he was on 37 went against them. There will always be a debate on that decision. Chakabva, the wicket-keeper whipped the bails off when Dickwella missed a ball from Sikandar Raza.

The field umpires went upstairs and referred it to the third umpire Chettihody Shamshuddin of India who ruled it as not out after going through several replays. Dickwella’s foot to all appearances looked to be planted on the line and not behind it, in which instance he should have been given out.

To add to that disappointment Chikabva also spilt edges from Dickwella at 63 and from Perera at 13 both off the unfortunate Sean Williams who along with his captain Cremer send down a marathon 154.2 of the 217.2 overs bowled by Zimbabwe bowlers in the match.

One had to question the over reliance on the spinners by Cremer when he had two other specialist fast bowlers in the line-up. Donald Tiripano was never given a bowl in the second innings and Chris Mpofu sent down just six overs. Zimbabwe clearly showed their inexperience at this level not having the opportunity to play consistently and some of Cremer’s field placing was questionable.

Credit should be given to the curator of the R Premadasa Stadium Asanga Herath and his team for preparing a splendid pitch that produced some remarkable and challenging cricket throughout the five days. The pitch here is renowned for being a batsman’s paradise but on this occasion although each of the four innings produced totals of 300 plus it also gave a fair chance to the spinners with Rangana Herath bagging 11 wickets and Cremer nine. The R Premadasa Stadium is not renowned to host Test matches but in the nine they have it has produced the highest Test score of all time – 952-6 as well as the highest successful run chase in Asia – 388.

Gunaratne was named Man of the Match and surprisingly a Man of the Series was also presented when only a one-off Test was played. It was given to Rangana Herath.

In reply to India’s 273 for 8 Sri Lanka were all out for 239 runs in 48.4 overs. The Sri Lankan youth were well on course for victory at many stages of the match but lost their way after losing wickets at regular intervals. Opener Raven Kelly top scored with 62 facing 101 deliveries with five fours and a six and skipper Kamindu Mendis also batted well to score 53 facing 57 deliveries with four boundaries.

Abhishek Sharma took 4 for 37 and Rahul Chahar was the second best taking 3 for 22 which included a spectacular catch off his own bowling to dismiss Arachchige which probably changed the course of the game.

India Under 19 top order flourished for a while with two half centuries by Shubman Gill (70) who faced 92 deliveries and struck four fours and and another 71 byHimanshi Rana who faced 79 balls and hit six fours and a six with useful contributions coming from the bats of Abhishek Sharma and Salman Khan to take India towards a challenging score of 273 for 8 in their 50 overs.

India would have been aiming towards the 300 run mark but from 224 for 4 in the 44th over they lost one of their prolific scorers Shubman Gill for 70 and India were pulled back a bit.

They lost a couple of quick wickets in the quest of looking for quick runs . But opening bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti gave the Indian tail a good twist with a well hit 23 to see India reaching their final total of 273 in the 50 overs. Nipun Rashmika was the most successful bowler taking three wickets while Praveen Jayawardene was the pick of the spinners with three wickets.

Defending champs India will play Afghanistan in the first semi-final scheduled for December 20 at the same venue.

The final is scheduled for December 23 at R Premadasa Stadium. In yesterday’s final group matches Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by one wicket with five balls to spare but failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Bangladesh and Afghanistan qualified from Group B.

Bangladesh totaled 230 and Pakistan replied with 233-9 in 49.1 overs.

In the other matches completed yesterday Afghanistan (75-1 in 4.1) defeated Singapore (73 in 18.2) by nine wickets at Kalutara and Nepal (154-9 in 44.4) also secured a one wicket win over Malaysia (153 in 44.4) at the NCC grounds.

Karunaratne had a poor home series against Australia averaging just 6.83 in the three Tests where his highest score was 22 and needed a big innings behind him to boost his confidence ahead of the Zimbabwe tour.

Sri Lanka A’s first innings total of 348 for eight wickets at the end of the day was largely built around Karunaratne’s assured knock of 131 off 242 balls comprising 15 fours. It gave them a handy first innings lead of 72 going into the third day today. West Indies A was dismissed for 276 on the first day.

The base for Sri Lanka A’s sound total was laid by Karunaratne and his opening partner Kusal Perera who made a swashbuckling 87 off 105 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes) out of a stand of 167 off 219 balls.

Antigua’s stockily built off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall broke the partnership by getting through the defences of Perera and looked the most penetrative of the West Indies A bowlers ending the day with impressive figures of six for 87.

Wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella was the other Sri Lanka A player to impress hitting an aggressive half century – 59 off 70 balls with 10 fours.

The disappointments for Sri Lanka A were the cheap dismissals of Lahiru Thirimanne for two and Roshen Silva for 17 – both falling victims to Cornwall’s spin.

West Indies A lost the services of fast bowler Reynard Leveridge in the ninth over when he was forced to retire and Cornwall completed the over.

Bolton had stitched together partnerships of 48 and 72 with Elyse Vilani and captain Meg Lanning respectively. Vilani chipped in with 22 off 31, including two fours and a six before she was trapped lbw by medium-pacer Chamari Atapattu.

Lanning ensured the innings didn’t lose momentum with a brisk 43 off 44 balls, before she too was dismissed by Atapattu. Bolton and Perry then capitalised on 23.4 wicketless overs. Bolton was dismissed with four deliveries remaining in the innings, and had cracked eight fours and a six.

Sri Lanka used seven bowlers but apart from Atapattu, only one of them – Ama Kanchana, the right-arm pacer – was among the wickets. Kanchana accounted for Bolton, but leaked 52 runs in eight overs.

In the chase, Sri Lanka were shot out for 131 in 45.5 overs, primarily through the efforts of legspinner Kirsten Beams, and right-arm pacers Rene and Holly Ferling, who shared the wickets to secure a 137-run win.

Only three Sri Lanka batsmen registered double figures. Hasini Perera was caught early off Ferling for 2 at the end of the third over. Wicketkepper Prasadani Weerakkody and captain Atapattu rebuilt with a 63-run second-wicket stand. Beams broke the partnership by trapping Atapattu in front, before she dismissed Weerakkody a few overs later. When Weerakkody fell for 33, the highest score of the innings, Sri Lanka were 87 for 3. Thereafter, only Chamari Polgampola got to double figures, consuming 60 deliveries for her 19.

Beams returned 4 for 26, while Ferling, who opened the bowling, took 3 for 30 in 7.5 overs. Farrell finished with career-best figures of 3 for 17 in eight overs.

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.
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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.

In the first T20I it was one man Glenn Maxwell who destroyed Sri Lanka with an astonishing batting performance that saw Australia break Sri Lanka’s world record for the highest T20I total.

If Sri Lanka have to get anywhere close to winning they must get Maxwell’s wicket early if not the game can be taken away from them as it happened at Pallakele on Tuesday.

“As a side we have a lot to play for. There’s a lot of youth and inexperience in the side and we talk of rebuilding a side. We know we need a lot of improvement,” said head coach Graham Ford.

“It’s been a long series and to end it on a high note is important. We can still level the series. There’s a huge amount to play for. I don’t think motivation should be any sort of problem.”

Ford however admitted that Sri Lanka had been poor in their execution against Maxwell’s onslaught.

“There were a lot of balls that were in the areas that he wanted them to be,” said Ford. “We didn’t have a superstar like (Lasith) Malinga in our attack and some experience in our attack and we didn’t execute as well as we would have liked. We thought about a few ways of going about our business differently, but once again it’s about execution.

“I was surprised by the lack of ability to stay out of trouble on a good batting wicket which is the art of T-20 bowling. Some of our bowlers are very inexperienced. We unfortunately don’t get exposed to high pressure T-20 games that much.

“The competition here is played in front of no crowd at all. Australians 10 out of the 11 all play the IPL and they all play the Big Bash. So the intent of the occasion gets to young and experienced bowlers. To practice your skills is one thing but to execute it under enormous pressure is another,” Ford said.

“If you look at Maxwell’s career, on his day, even the best of bowlers can’t contain him. He had a fantastic day out. It’s a bit of both I guess. The pressure that he creates when he is hitting the ball that well leads to bowlers to bowl those loose deliveries. It’s about pressure. He has gone out and hit the ball amazingly well and hopefully he will not do well again.”

The coach lamented the absence of a T20 Premier League in Sri Lanka that has left them short of experience to play under pressure in front of a bigger audience.

“I have mentioned it before that the Sri Lanka Premier League or Super League or whatever it was called a few years ago unfortunately couldn’t continue. That was an opportunity for players to play games on high intensity and learn from guys from overseas,” said Ford. “It’s that kind of tournament that will benefit our cricket and Australia have certainly benefited from that.”

Today’s T20I which will be the swansong of Tillakaratne Dilshan who will quit from all formats of international cricket. A capacity crowd of 35,000 is expected to witness the match with all tickets being sold out well in advance.

Ford paying an attribute to him said, “Very sad to see such a legend of the game finally calling it a time. For me it’s a privilege to have been involved and had a time to witness his exploits first hand. He can be extremely proud of what he has done over the years and certainly goes down as one of the greats of the game.”

“I have taken this decision after consultation with my family members. I think this is the right time for me to retire and I have no other ambitions of prolonging my career any further,”

Dilshan will make his final One-Day International appearance for his country in the third ODI against Australia at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Sunday August 28 and his final T20 International appearance also against Australia at the R Premadasa Stadium on September 9.

“I want to catch up on the lost time with my wife and three kids and want to give them the best of fatherhood which they may have missed by my being away from home with the Sri Lanka team,” Dilshan said.

The 39-year-old right-handed opener retired from Test cricket in March 2013 and concentrated on playing One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals. He said at the time that he would call it quits when he no longer enjoys the game.

It seems the time has arrived for him to take a final decision on his career. Dilshan’s current form would also have been a factor towards his final decision. He scored 22 and 10 in the first two ODIs played at the R Premadasa Stadium coming out of a knee injury which he sustained during practice. He also missed Sri Lanka’s last ODI and T20I series in England citing “personal reasons”.

Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said that he and his committee were unaware of Dilshan’s decision to retire as they had already picked him to play in the third and fourth ODIs in Dambulla.

“We picked the side during the second ODI and we learnt of Dilshan’s decision only yesterday,” said Jayasuriya.

He denied that there was any pressure brought on Dilshan to retire. “The decision he took was purely his own, we were keen to play him.”

Paying a tribute to a former team mate Jayasuriya said, “Dilshan was truly a great all-rounder for Sri Lanka. He could bat, bowl, field and even keep wickets very rarely do you find a cricketer who is so versatile in every department. What is so great about him is his commitment to perform well even at this late age. Sri Lanka cricket will certainly miss him.”

Will Dilshan be lost to cricket forever?

“I have no plans to play any further cricket or be involved with cricket. It’s a decision that I have taken,” said Dilshan.

“Although I am not considering taking up any positions connected to cricket or play cricket of any format my name I am sure will remain in the game as the inventor of the ‘Dilscoop’,” he said.

The ‘Dilscoop’ became famous during the ICC World T20 in England in 2009 when Dilshan used it frequently to become the leading run-getter in the tournament with 317 runs (avg. 52.83) and a top score of 96 not out – a performance that took his team to the final against Pakistan at Lord’s and gave him the Man of the Series award.

According to Dilshan he started practicing this stroke against a bowling machine during his tenure with Delhi Daredevils in the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) held in South Africa. It was used so successfully by Dilshan during the World T20 that former Australian captain Ian Chappell who commentating during the tournament aid that he had never seen any batsman play the ball straight over the wicket-keeper’s head as Dilshan does.

Dilshan appeared for Sri Lanka in 97 Tests 11 of which he captained and in 329 ODIs (26 as captain). He also captained in five of 78 T20 Internationals he has played to-date.

Making his ODI debut in December 1999 in Zimbabwe, Dilshan turned out to be one of the most successful cricketers in the shorter format scoring over 10,000 runs and capturing over 100 wickets. He is also one of the few batsmen to score over 1000 runs in T20Is and also a century. He made 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year on four occasions, the last one being in 2015 when he amassed 1207 at an average of 52.47.

Despite his age Dilshan remains one of the best fielders in world cricket especially at his pet position at cover point where he has brought off numerous catches and saved several runs for his team. His best performance on the field was during the VB final against Australia at Adelaide in 2006 when he ran out four batsmen with some slick fielding that enabled Sri Lanka defend a target of 275 and win by 22 runs.

Sri Lanka Cricket in a media release stated that they would dedicate the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Australia to be played at Dambulla Stadium on Sunday to honour Dilshan for his invaluable contribution to the game and country.

“I together with my committee wish to extend our sincere appreciation and wish him the very best in his future endeavors,” said Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala.

NWP who had a healthy 95 run first innings lead dismissed Southern in their second innings for 214 leaving themselves with a target of 120 to chase for victory.

They reached 46-4 off 22 overs before the game ended. Pubudu Ganegama of NWP was named man of the final, while Damitha Silva also of NWP took the Man of the Series award.

The other two awards went to Southern Province – Navindu Nirmal (best batsman) and Hareen Buddila (best bowler).