Sri Lanka in last-ball MCG win

CHAMARA Kapugedera smashed a boundary off the last ball to secure a thrilling five- wicket victory for Sri Lanka against Australia in the first T20 International between the two nations.

Needing one run off the last ball, Kapugedera drove a full delivery from Andrew Tye through the covers to seal the match and put his team 1-0 up in the three-match contest.

With several of their top players in India for a Test series, Australia fielded what amounted to a second-string team with Michael Klinger, Billy Stanlake and Ashton Turner making their debut in T20 Internationals.

Put into bat, the hosts could not make the most of a strong start and posted a modest 168/6 at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).

Skipper Aaron Finch (43) went on to complete his 1 000 runs in T20 Internationals while Klinger (38) and Travis Head (31) were the other notable contributors with the bat. Paceman Lasith Malinga

playing his first international match in 12 months, was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, claiming two wickets in two balls while also taking a couple of catches.

Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga fell for a duck but Dilshan Munaweera (44) and Niroshan Dickewalla ( 30) steadied the innings before Asela Gunaratne (52) hit his maiden half-century to take the tourists tantalisingly close to the win.

With Sri Lanka seemingly cruising to victory, needing 18 runs off the last three overs, Turner injected fresh excitement into the contest by claiming two wickets in the 18th over.

James Faulkner conceded only six runs in his tidy final over that left Sri Lanka needing six off the last over from Tye who could only watch in agony as Kapugedera’s shot raced to boundary. – Reuters