Kusal Mendis called correctly as Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat against Australia on Monday in what is almost a must-win game for both teams at the Cricket World Cup. Mendis took over captaincy duties from Dasun Shanaka, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury. Read: World Cup 2023: England outplayed as Afghanistan script historic win in Delhi Five-time champion Australia is coming off losses to host India and South Africa and is in last spot in the 10-team league stage, while Sri Lanka has lost to South Africa and to Pakistan in high-scoring games. Injuries forced changes in Sri Lanka's starting lineup. Bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne replaced Shanaka in a like-for-like squad replacement, and was elevated immediately into the XI. Wayward medium pacer Matheesha Pathirana was ruled out because of injury and replaced by Lahiru Kumara. Australia retained the same starting lineup despite criticism of the composition of its bowling attack, featuring just one specialist spinner. The match started in Lucknow within hours of the International Olympic Committee voting in Mumbai to include cricket on its sports program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Read: 'Deeply regret the incident': Litton apologizes after journos removed from team hotel Six-team men's and women's Twenty20 competitions will feature when cricket returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1900. Cricket was one of five sports added to the program for Los Angeles, and is already likely to be retained with following Summer Olympics, in 2032, being staged in Brisbane, Australia. India is bidding to host the 2036 Olympics. Lineups: Australia: Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (captain), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood. Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (captain), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka  

A nation dealing with its worst economic crisis and high inflation for months had something to celebrate Tuesday when Sri Lanka sealed a limited-overs cricket series victory with a game to spare against Australia with a last-ball thriller in Game 4. Having been sent in and restricted to 258 in 49 overs, Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lanka lineup held its nerve to bowl out Australia for 254 to secure the five-match ODI series 3-1. The last game Friday will be more like preparation for the test series. Australia needed 19 off the last over bowled by skipper Shanaka, and No. 10 batter Matthew Kuhnemann (15) hit three boundaries to get the visitors’ equation down to five runs required off the last ball to keep the series alive. But he was deceived by a slower delivery, hitting it straight up in the air for Charith Asalanka to catch in the covers. In the end, David Warner’s 99 wasn’t quite enough to get the Australians over the line after Asalanka hit a 106-ball 110 and Dhananjaya de Silva scored 60 from 61 deliveries for Sri Lanka. Read: SL vs AUS 2022: Lankans eye first home series win over Australia since 1992 “Against such a quality attack it was a tough ask and we are glad we came through,” Asalanka said. “I walked in with us three down for not many inside 10 overs. Special credit to Dhananjaya de Silva, who took the pressure off from me with the way he batted.” Sri Lanka had not beaten Australia in an ODI series since 2010, and hadn’t won a bilateral series at home against the Australians since 1992. Australia won the toss and made a bold call to bowl first, a gamble which almost paid off. “Every time we looked like getting a partnership we kept losing wickets,” said Australia skipper Aaron Finch, who was out for a four-ball duck. “They made use of the opportunities. It was a gettable total. The run rate was in control but we lost wickets and let it slip out of our hands. ” Australia was on course for the target as Warner and Travis Head (27) added 58 runs for the fifth wicket, but lost three wickets for the addition of three runs in the space of eight deliveries. Part-timer de Silva removed Head and Warner in his successive overs, starting when he bowled Head with the penultimate ball of the 36th. Maheesh Theekshana (1-40) trapped Glenn Maxwell (1) in the next over from the other end before de Silva returned and had Warner smartly stumped by wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella on the first ball of the 38th. “If someone had hung around David Warner for about another five overs that could have been a match-winning partnership,” Finch said. Warner was unlucky to be dismissed one run short of his 19th ODI hundred. The opener has not scored an international hundred for more than two years across all formats. With the series at stake, the five-time world champions brought in the experienced Pat Cummins in place of Jhye Richardson. There was no Mitchell Starc for Australia, though. The left-arm paceman hasn’t played any game since hurting his finger earlier in the series. Read: “It’s unfortunate” says Naimur about Bangladesh’s Test debacle There was some resistance from the lower order with Pat Cummins (35) and then Kuhnemann keeping Australia’s chances alive until the last delivery. De Silva finished with 2-39 in his 10 overs to back up his half-century during the Sri Lankan innings. The middle-order batter hit seven fours before he was spectacularly caught by Maxwell, and he combined with Asalanka in an innings-reviving 101-run stand. Asalanka was the hero for Sri Lanka with his first ODI hundred, joining de Silva with the total at 34-3. The tour is all square heading into the two-match test series, with Australia winning the Twenty20 format 2-1 and Sri Lanka taking the ODI portion.

Australian batters had no trouble chasing Sri Lanka's low total in the third match of the ongoing 5-match T20I series on Tuesday (February 15) in Canberra and won the contest by 6 wickets. Australia claimed the Twenty20 International series with two games to spare with this victory. Australia will strive to sweep the Sri Lankan team by winning the remaining two matches. Oppositely, Sri Lanka will be hoping to reclaim some respect by winning at least one match in the series. The third T20I report of the AUS vs SL 2022 series is discussed in this article. Australia vs Sri Lanka T20I Series 2022: Third Match Report Sri Lanka were sent to bat first by Australian captain Aaron Finch. The Lankan side only managed to score 121/6 in their allotted 20 overs. The Australians had no problem chasing Sri Lanka's 121-run target. They reached the target with 19 balls to spare, losing four wickets in the process. The victory gave Australia a 3-0 lead in the AUS vs SL 2022 T20I series. Sri Lanka Innings The third match was a must-win game for Sri Lanka in order to keep the T20I series alive. However, Sri Lanka's worst performance in the series came in the third game, when they only managed to score 121 after being given the chance to bat first. Read BAN vs AFG 2022: BCB Announced ODI Squad for Afghanistan Series Sri Lanka kept losing wickets from the start of the innings as pacer Kane Richardson put them under pressure by taking two wickets in three overs. At one point, they were down to 42/4 at the end of 8 overs. Dinesh Chandimal and Captain Dasun Shanaka tried to rebuild the innings by putting up 47 runs for the fifth wicket. Though, they had to play 53 deliveries to score those runs. Richardson picked up Chandimal's (25) wicket in the 17th over to end the partnership yet again. Sri Lanka scored 34 runs in the final four overs, losing two more wickets, and they were forced to settle with a low total to defend the match. Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka scored the highest runs with 39. On the other hand, Kane Richardson took the most wickets for Australia with three. Read BAN v AFG 2022: Bangladesh Eye Top Spot in ICC CWC Super League Australia Innings Australia lost the opener, Ben McDermott, on the first ball of the innings Thanks to Maheesh Theekshana's carrom ball. Maheesh was outstanding in the match, taking three wickets for 24 runs in four overs. Medium-pacer Dushmantha Chameera had a solid day with the ball as well. He was economical but didn't get a wicket. As a result, Australian batters had little problem chasing a low score even after losing an opener on the first ball. Sri Lanka picked up one more wicket in the power play, but a 50-run partnership between captain Aaron Finch (35) and Glenn Maxwell propelled the innings to 76 in 11 overs. The Australian batters were under little pressure in the middle with only 45 runs required to win the match and the series in the last nine overs. Josh Inglis (21) and Marcus Stoinis (12) played two more important knocks to help Australia win by 16.5 overs. Australia's all-rounder Glenn Maxwell scored the most runs with 39. On the other hand, right-arm off-break bowler Maheesh Theekshana was Sri Lanka's most successful bowler. Read Tamim finds commentary an ‘interesting’ job Player of the Match Right-arm fast-medium bowler Kane Richardson was awarded player of the match for his excellent balling. His crucial breakthroughs aided Australia in restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total. Bottom Line   The Sri Lankan team has shown some progress against the reigning T20 World Cup winner, but they are yet to win a match in this AUS vs SL 2022 T20I series. Losing three consecutive matches is a major disappointment, but playing in Australian conditions is a valuable learning experience for the Lankan team. Furthermore, Australia will host the upcoming T20 World Cup, thus the Sri Lankan team would benefit from this experience in adapting to the conditions. On the other hand, the Australian team will try to maintain its momentum in the remaining matches ahead of a tricky Pakistan tour in March-April. Read Mustafizur goes to Delhi Capital, Shakib remains unsold