Aaron Finch lauds Dasun Shanaka for his match-winning knock vs Australia in third T20I

Australian skipper Aaron Finch has lauded Sri Lankan Skipper Dasun Shanaka for his blistering knock in the third T20I. Thanks to Shanaka’s efforts in the death overs, the hosts registered a thrilling four-wicket win in the last of the three-match T20I series against Australia.

Amidst all this, the Aussie skipper also scored 29 runs off 20 balls and thus, ended up scoring 114 runs in the series at an average of 57.00, having a strike rate of 156.16. Apart from this, senior Aussie opener David Warner kept himself on the top of the list as he scored 39 on Saturday.

With the help of two other 30-plus individual innings from Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis, the Finch-led side posted a decent total of 176 for the loss of 5 wickets in the first inning.

That was an unbelievable knock by Dasun – Finch

The Sri Lankan batters were seen struggling throughout the series against the Aussie bowling attack. However, the star all-rounder Dasun Shanaka made a difference in the last T20I when he was expected to score runs almost up to the run rate of 20 runs per over. He smashed 21 runs in the 18^th over of the inning bringing a revival for his team in the match. He also scored two fours and a six in the last over which was being bowled by Kane Richardson. Finally, the skipper and all-rounder Shanaka took his team home with a four-wicket due to his heroics in death overs.

“That was an unbelievable knock by Dasun tonight. We thought batting first was OK. I don’t think our choice of batting first today had any reason for the defeat. Dasun played really well.” Aaron Finch was quoted as saying in the post-match conversation. Although the experts predicted that Australia would win the last match, the hosts' skipper had other plans. Thus, the visitors’ skipper heaped his praises on Shanaka for his match-defining knock.

In the meanwhile, Shanaka was happy with the team’s performance in the last match and he said about carrying this winning momentum for the upcoming ODI series against Australia.

“Leading up to the game I tried to motivate the boys telling them that although we had lost the series, we needed some momentum leading up to the ODIs. I’m glad they delivered. It’s been tough for few months,” Shanaka said in the post-match press conference.