Australia ended as winners in the thrilling second T20I versus Sri Lanka in Sydney on February 13, clinching the Super Over encounter due to a stellar performance from Josh Hazlewood. The experienced quick bowled a terrific spell of 3/22 off his 4 overs in the run-chase, before also giving away only five runs in the Super Over.
Hazlewood allowed Australia to make a very decent feast of the second half despite them defending a less than ideal score of 164/6. He bagged two early wickets and came back to add a third scalp to his kitty for the day, pushing Sri Lanka to the brink of another defeat.
But then an expensive last over, where opening batter Pathum Nissanka and lower-order bat Maheesh Theekshana smashed allrounder Marcus Stoinis for 18 runs, brought the game to a tie which was broken in the Super Over.
In an innings where Sri Lanka mostly struggled with the bat, Nissanka made a fighting 73 off 53 balls, including seven fours and two sixes. Among the rest, Nissanka’s best support came from skipper Dasun Shanaka, who smashed an important 19-ball 34 before being dismissed.
Shanaka, however, failed to come to the party in the Super Over where he simply couldn’t dispatch Hazlewood’s pinpoint accurate wide yorkers. At the halfway mark during the tie-breaker, Sri Lanka had only a solitary run on board. Hazlewood made it a no-contest with the ball in hand, giving away only four more runs off the remaining three deliveries.
Australia sent two of their strongest hitters Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell to get six runs off the Super Over, and it took them only three balls to finish off the proceedings, facing spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka kept Australia down to only 164 runs in their allotted 20 overs, with two stand-out bowling performers in Dushmantha Chameera (2/30) and Hasaranga (2/33). Things could’ve been worse for the Australians if not for a critical 48 off 32 balls from wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis.
Brief scores
Australia 164/6 in 20 overs (Inglis 48; Chameera 2/30, Hasaranga 2/33) versus Sri Lanka 164/8 in 20 overs (Nissanka 73, Shanaka 34; Hazlewood 3/22) tied – Australia won the Super Over
