T20-Sri Lanka vs Australia: Jhye Richardson and Matthew Wade lead Australia to win

Unlike the first T20 match between them, where Australian openers chased down the target quickly, the second T20 saw a scary twist when Lankan bowlers looked to dominate Aussies for a lower target while defending. It was a nervy end to the thrilling match that the Aussies managed to pull in their favour.

Jhye Richardson cleaned out the middle and lower order

Once again, Australia opted to bowl first on winning the toss. Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka opened for Sri Lanka. Still, Glenn Maxwell got his hands on Danushka's wicket in the first over itself as the batter went to play a sweep, which got a significant-top edge. Soon Jhaye Richardson dismissed Nissanka for mere three runs. Charith Asalanka and Kusal Mendis looked to anchor innings for Lankans as the duo stitched a 66-run partnership in the middle. Yet again, Maxwell got the needed breakthrough by taking Asalanka (39). Kusal Mendis lost his wicket off Jhaye Richardson in an unfortunate manner where his bat hit the stumps while he looked to run but missed and fell over bat crashing into stumps. The middle and lower order consisting of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (13), Dasun Shanaka (14), Wanindu Hasaranga (12), Chamika Karunaratne (0) and Dushmantha Chameera (0) lost their wickets to Jhaye and Kane Richardson as the duo shared seven wickets to clean out their middle order. In between, Josh Hazlewood remained wicketless and gave just 16 runs in 4 overs, which consisted of even one maiden over. Sri Lanka's batting fell into pieces again to Australian bowlers as they limped to 124 in 20 overs.

Matthew Wade: Steering Aussie towards a win

Though the target looked really small and thus a straightforward chase; however, Wanindu Hasaranga managed to pull his team into the game, making it a thriller. The drama began in powerplay where David Warner and Aaron Finch intended to take down Sri Lanka in the first T20. Hasaranga struck Aaron Finch (24) in the third over, where the ball went to the hands of Gunathilaka. The umpires discussed if the fielder was in the ring and if Hasaranag's back foot crossed the return crease but ultimately gave out. Hasaranga struck second of the powerplay in the form of the LBW wicket of Mitchell Marsh (11). The final over of the powerplay saw Steven Smith lose his wicket in an LBW to Nuwan Thushara. Though Australia lost three wickets in the powerplay, they still had the upper hand owing to their high strike rate. To add more drama, David Warner lost his wicket due to a mix-up run out as he wanted to take second, but Maxwell denied it. Hasaranga took another two of Glenn Maxwell (19) and Ashton Agar (0), whereas Chameera dismissed Marcus Stoinis (9). With Matthew Wade and Jhaye Richardson on the crease, 35 runs were needed with plenty of overs but three wickets left. In Hasaranga's last 26 runs were needed when Wade took it home with his unbeaten 26 giving Australia a comfortable win with a thriller in between. 

After losing, Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka captain, said, "We were right there but unfortunately we weren't able to capitalise at the end. Today the top-order fell early. At the end we were struggling with the conditions."

While Lankan bowlers made a remarkable attempt to defend the low total, their batting shambles cost them this series. Australia wrapped the series with a game to go, which will take place on Saturday, 11th June 2022.