Warner stars again in Australia’s clean sweep
Australia cruised past Sri Lanka to clean sweep their three-match Twenty20 series Friday, with an in-form David Warner grinding out a third successive half-century in the seven-wicket win.
The home team have been dominant throughout, winning by 134 runs in Adelaide and by nine wickets with seven overs to spare in Brisbane ahead of the clash in Melbourne.
Sri Lanka’s batting had been insipid until now, but they finally posted a competitive score of 142 for six, with Kusal Perera hitting 57.
However their bowlers, led by Lasith Malinga, have been no match for a quality Australian batting line-up, spearheaded by Warner who has now scored 217 in three innings without losing his wicket.
“It was pretty clinical once we got into a routine,” said Australia captain Aaron Finch.
“The way the bowlers set it up for us over the last two games, it was outstanding.
“Every game is a different challenge and a different surface, so it’s important to bring in your best, in terms of preparation and mental side of the game too,” he added.
“We haven’t been up to our standards. We haven’t performed at our best and if we don’t, we will end up like this,” said Sri Lanka opener Niroshan Dickwella. “We learnt a lot in this series, but we couldn’t even compete properly.”
SCORES IN BRIEF
SRI LANKA: 142 for 6 in 20 overs (Perera 57, Fernando 20; Starc 2-32, Richardson 2-25, Cummins 2-23)
AUSTRALIA: 145 for 3 in 17.4 overs (Finch 37, Warner 57 not out, Turner 22 not out; Pradeep 1-20)
Result: Australia won by seven wickets and clinched 3-match series 3-0.
Player-of-the-match: David Warner.
