Sri Lanka beat Australia by two runs in the D/L method in the rain played 2nd Twenty20 international at the MCG, as an surprising final over cameo from Glenn Maxwell went in vain.
Needing 16 runs from Thisera Perera's last over, captain George Bailey (45 off 36) was caught from the second ball and then Shaun Marsh (47 from 40) was almost caught on the boundary by Nuwan Kulasekara only for the Sri Lankan to realise he was falling over the boundary.
The fast bowler was scarily close to giving away a six which would have provided Australia with a real possibility of victory. The win looking too large an ask when Maxwell faced his 1st ball needing 12 runs from three deliveries, but the Maxwell smashed two successive fours through point.
Maxwell, who engage in a words with the fielders as they conferred ahead of the last ball, could not finishe the miracle turnaround though and missed the next ball outside off stump giving Sri Lanka triumph. The Sri Lanka, won the series 2-0, reached a concrete total credit to the unbeaten balancing partnership between Mahela Jayawardene (61 off 45) and Perera (35 off 15).
In chasing after the early dismissals of openers David Warner and Aaron Finch, both for 7, Shaun Marsh and skipper George Bailey set a hard basis for a run chase but their cause was not helped by a rain delay.
Australia gone the field after ten overs with the score at 2 for 60 runs and a revised total of 122 runs was set, meaning the Australian batsman return to the middle needing 62 runs from 30 deliveries. Thisara Perera named for the Man of the Match award.
