Australia had an easy time getting the better of their Lankan rivals in the 3rd T20I of the series, which now takes them to an unassailable 3-0 lead. The series had significant bearing for the hosts, especially factoring in the absence of some of their most established batting names in the forms of David Warner, Mitch Marsh, and Steve Smith; the last of whom suffered a potentially career-threating concussion in the second game of the series.
Australia’s bowling at its best in this series
But the biggest positive for Australia has been the dominating form of their bowlers. Barring the last match, where Sri Lanka almost managed to successfully pull off a stunning 165-run chase, the Australian bowling attack hasn’t really given the tourists’ batting lineup any chance to settle in.
Their roles have been well defined, their lines and lengths have been near-impeccable; on the whole, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the WT20 defending champions have managed to take their already thriving bowling to an altogether next level.
Well, there was that time when Mitchell Starc did err- and rather horrendously at that- at both, his line and length. During the 18th over of the innings, Starc bowled a beamer that many have come to describe as the worst ball of his career.
Mitchell Starc bowls a 3-metre high beamer at Shanaka
From the looks of it, Starc was going for a well-disguised slower-one to outfox the Lankan skipper, Dasun Shanaka. But in the process, the ball slipped out of his hands and pitched a full 3-metres above the ground! Even Matthew Wade, currently regarded as one of the best glovesmen in the country, was unable to time his dive and collect the ball. The ball rolled away to the boundary to give the Lankans a no-ball, free-hit, and a four.
Even the on-air commentators seemed to be enjoying the spicy beamer from Starc, and the ever-entertaining Wade also had a sheepish smile on his face. Here’s the video of Mitchell Starc’s infamous ‘no-ball-of-the-century’. (Yes, he already has one. Remember James Vince’s dismissal in the 2017-18 Ashes?)
"I don't think I've ever seen a ball go that wide!"
Matthew Wade had no chance with that one! #AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/MjC8sCvYtk
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 15, 2022
Match Summary
As it turned out, even those extra five-runs plus the free-hit couldn’t give a the Lankan Lions too many runs to work around with. Captain Shanaka was the only batter who managed to score in excess of 30 as Kane Richardson ran through the Lankan lineup and finished with 3 wickets.
Glenn Maxwell (39 off 26) and captain Aaron Finch (35 off 36), batting at a demoted one-down position, made short work of the target.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 121/6 (D Shanaka 39, M Theekshana 3/24) lost to Australia 124/4 (G Maxwell 39, K Richardson 3/21) by 6 wickets.