David Warner destroys Sri Lanka again to steer Aussies to series sweep
David Warner has done it again. Sri Lanka simply had no answer to the rejuvenated Aussie opener who completed his third successive innings of substance in an utterly dominant display at the MCG.
Australia ended a three-match annihilation of Sri Lanka with a six-hitting record for captain Aaron Finch and a warning to world number one Pakistan who are next on the home team’s hit list.
David Warner remained undefeated for a third time as collected his third half century of a lop-sided series as the Aussies continued a T20 international resurgence ahead of a showdown with a Pakistan-side coming off a 3-0 loss to the Sri Lankans last month.
The Australian batting line-up finally got something of a test with three wickets falling, the most of the series, before Warner (57 not out) and Ashton Turner (22 not out) guided the home team past Sri Lanka’s 142 with 16 balls and seven wickets to spare.
SCROLL DOWN TO RE-LIVE ALL THE ACTION IN OUR BLOG!
Aussie captain Finch bombed three maximums to take his career tally to 85, passing Shane Watson’s national record of 84, a hitting display that epitomized his team’s dominance of an opponent not yet qualified for the main draw of next year’s T20 World Cup.
Warner was named man of the series in which Sri Lanka took just six wickets in three games.
“It’s good to get out in the middle and hit some in the middle. Let’s hope it continues for the summer,” Warner said.
“A bit of consistency is always great, a bit of momentum. As a team and collective I think we are doing fantastic.
WARNER’S EARLY SUMMER WARNING
David Warner was dropped on 12. When he was 42 the ball hit the stumps after ricocheting off his body, but the bails didn’t come off. He said he was “struggling for rhythm” too. But he still didn’t go out.
The Aussie opener had the perfect first home series since his 12 month ban, knocking out a century and two 50s, and he wasn’t dismissed once in three innings.
He outscored Sri Lanka on his own in the first game, and finished the series with 217 runs, passing 2000 in T20 internationals, and picked up two man of the match awards to boot.
MIC'D-UP SMITH A GOOD SIGN
It’s only been six months since Steve Smith returned to international cricket following his 12 month ban but after walking on to the MCG miked-up for TV it became apparent the batting genius has re-discovered his career, and life, sweet spot.
His Ashes feats were stupendous, but still there lingered the taint of sandpaper-gate. Interviews were rare beyond anything after his run-scoring feats, fearing a barrage of questions about the past.
But in the absence of Glenn Maxwell, Smith happily put his hand up to take over, relaying plenty of chirpy “no worries” to the box.
Smith, who hit his first two balls for four before being out for 13, has informed team officials he’s ready to resume normal media workloads this summer, a good sign the batting genius is feeling a level of comfort which bodes well for making loads of runs.
AND WHO SAID SMITH HAS TOO MUCH SAY
After Pat Cummins dismissed danger man Kusal Perera with the first ball of the 17th over, the TV commentators informed Smith, the former Aussie T20 captain, that the fast bowler was on a hat trick, having removed Avishka Fernando with the last ball of his previous over.
Smith told his skipper Aaron Finch, and suggested maybe a slip go in to help Cummins achieve the rare feat. But the actual captain said “no thanks”, and kept the field as he preferred. Cummins put the ball wide of off stump, and the batsman left it alone.
IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE WORLD CUP FOR SRI LANKA
The Sri Lankan batsmen have some work to do before they return next year firstly to secure a place in the main draw of the T20 World Cup, but also if they are any chance of having any success.
Ranked outside the top eight countries, who have already qualified, Sri Lanka will have to play off against the likes of Bangladesh and even Papua New Guinea to make the final 12 teams.
And with just one batsman managing more than 37 runs through the three matches, Kusal Perera made 100 - the visitors could be lame ducks in 12 months time having lost 25 wickets in three games.
THEY WILL HAVE SUPPORT THOUGH
Aussie achievements at the MCG – wickets, boundaries –were met with relative muted applause compared to anything the Sri Lankans did. The crowd of 28,568 on a warm Melbourne night, was at least 75 per cent Sri Lankans, maybe more.