Prime Minister’s XI scores one-run win over Sri Lanka after final ball wide
Aussie T20 discard Chris Lynn failed to make a statement with the bat as young gun Harry Nielsen helped guide the Prime Minister’s X1 to a thrilling one-run win over Sri Lanka in Canberra.
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Discarded batsman Chris Lynn has failed to back up his midweek grumblings about being left out of the Australian Twenty20 team.
Lynn was overlooked for Australia’s home T20 series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and questioned why he wasn’t contacted about his non-selection.
The 29-year-old had the chance to let his runs do the talking, playing for the PM’s XI against Sri Lanka in Canberra on Thursday night, but he was clean bowled for three off seven balls.
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The PM’s chased down Sri Lanka’s 8-131 with one wicket and one ball to spare after Kasun Rajitha bowled a wide on the final ball of the match. But it was Lynn’s failure which was the talking point as former players in the Fox Sports commentary box offered the master blaster some free advice.
Lynn isn’t playing in the Sheffield Shield and the domestic one-day competitions this summer and former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin believes it has cost him form.
“It’s hard to come out in this form of the game with no cricket behind you and start opening the front leg and clearing the boundary,” Haddin said.
“(His dismissal) is probably a good example of someone who hasn’t played a lot of cricket, it’s a very full ball and if you’re in form you play that straight back down past the bowler.
“You need to be playing consistent cricket, in all tournaments around the world, but you need to playing some sort of high-level cricket to come in and face international attacks.”
Former Test captain Allan Border echoed the sentiment.
“You can go in the nets but as we all know, it’s very very different when you walk out into the middle in a game situation so that’s a lesson for Chris,” Border said.
“He needs to be playing more cricket, even if it’s club cricket, just something out in the middle.”
Lynn has played 18 T20 internationals and averages just 19.4 at a strike rate of 131.67. In his past nine T20 innings for Australia Lynn has scored more than 20 just once.
Harry Nielsen, the son of former Australian coach Tim Nielsen, blasted 79 off 49 balls and also took three catches.
Nielsen, 24, has played just 11 first class matches but the opener proved he could handle an international attack through his match-winning knock.