Sri Lanka beat Australia, thanks to Pathum Nissanka's magnificent century who was then given the Player of the Match award for his superb knock against the Men in Yellow. The home team has now won two consecutive ODI matches to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. They'll now be looking forward to win the series in the following match.
Meanwhile, after winning the toss, Australia elected to bat first on a batting track in Colombo. David Warner's bad form in the One-Day International series continued as he only scored nine runs. Mitchell Marsh, an all-rounder, was also removed for ten runs. Skipper Aaron Finch along with Marnus Labuschagne stitched a valuable partnership for the visitors. However, Labuschagne (29 runs) was scalped soon after Australia crossed the 100-run mark.
Finch, the skipper, left the game barely five runs after Labuschagne. However, Alex Carey's (49 runs), Travis Head's (70*), and Glenn Maxwell's (33 runs) batting performances ensured that the visitors scored 291/6 in their allocated 50 overs. The wicket-takers for Sri Lanka were Dushmantha Chameera (one), Dunith Wellalage (one), Jeffrey Vandersay (three), and Dhananjaya de Silva (one).
Sri Lanka, in turn, never appeared to be in jeopardy. Niroshan Dickwella (25) and Nissanka (137) got their team off to a good start. After Dickwella's wicket fell, Kusal Mendis (87) and Nissanka took control of the game until Lanka got close to the 200-run mark. Mendis, on the other hand, retired due to batting issues. De Silva scored 25 runs in just 17 balls, which was a crucial contribution. Josh Hazlewood, on the other hand, scalped him.
Charith Asalanka (13) and Nissanka completed the remainder of the chase, returning unbeaten at 137. As the powerful Australian squad was blown away by Nissanka's brilliance with the bat, Hazlewood (one), Jhye Richardson (two), and Maxwell (one) were the victorious bowlers for Australia.