Australian skipper, Aaron Finch heaped praise on Dasun Shanaka for his heroic knock in the third T20 international on Saturday. He termed his knock as unbelievable and credited him for beating Australia in the final match of the T20 series.
“That was an unbelievable knock by Dasun tonight. We thought batting first was OK. I don’t think our choice of batting first today had any reason for the defeat. Dasun played really well.” Finch said after the game.
Dasun Shanaka played a match-winning knock of 54 runs in 25 balls, helping Sri Lanka snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Earlier, Australia had posted 176 runs in the first innings. Aaron Finch (29 off 20) and David Warner (39 off 33) had provided a solid start and the likes of Maxwell and Stonis capitalized on that brilliantly.
Later, Steve Smith changed gears and provided the finishing touches along with Mathew Wade to guide the team to a respective score on the board. For Sri Lanka, W Hasaranga ( 1 for 33) and M Theekshana (2 for 25) bowled well.
In pursuit of the score, Sri Lanka had lost 6 wickets for just 108 runs and 59 runs were needed in the last 3 overs. Dasun Shanaka then showed his class by smashing the ball to all parts of the ground. He along with Chamika Karunatne helped Sri Lanka chased down the score with one ball left in the match.
Dasun Shanaka took the game of the hands of the visitors by playing a sensational knock of 54 runs in 25 balls. After the game in the post-match presentation, the Sri Lanka skipper revealed how he kept his players motivated despite losing the T20 series.
“Leading up to the game I tried to motivate the boys telling them that although we had lost the series, we needed some momentum leading up to the ODIs. I’m glad they delivered. It’s been a tough few months.”
